Red Wine Lentils with Roasted Vegetables and Goat Cheese

Greetings from Singapore! As I mentioned in my last post, I've gone to Singapore for a research conference, which my sister and I will be following up with a very brief trip to Thailand. I've been here for a couple days now and absolutely love it! I've gotten to do a bit of sightseeing and shopping, and I've tried some great food so far - I'll try to do a post about the food when I get back!

As promised, I'm trying not to ignore my blog while I'm away so I'm sharing a recipe I made before I left. This is also my second entry in the Canadian Lentils Recipe Revelations Contest which ends March 19th, so I wanted to make sure I posted it on time!

If you saw my recent recipe for peanut butter lentil granola bars, then I don't have to bother repeating how healthy and versatile lentils are in cooking. They pair really well with meats like fish, but they are a good source of protein themselves and I love eating them as a base for a vegetarian main course, as they're used in this recipe for red wine lentils with roasted vegetables and goat cheese.

This dish was inspired by a recipe I saw on Cooking Light, but I ended up changing around so many of the ingredients and steps that I think it's safe to call it my own now. It's made of green lentils mixed with root vegetables that are roasted in a red wine dressing, then the whole thing is mixed with a really flavourful red wine sauce and topped with a bit of crumbled goat cheese. The result is a truly delicious dish with an earthy flavour from the lentils and vegetables that's deepened by the red wine sauce but brightened up by the bits of tangy goat cheese.

I know this dish wouldn't win any beauty awards looks-wise (and it doesn't help that it was getting dark at the time I tried to photograph it), but despite its looks, you have to trust me that this really is a wonderful dish! What amazes me most about it is how it actually reminds of me meat - every time I heated up leftovers in the microwave, I could have sworn I could smell steak, probably because of the red wine sauce. That also makes me think that this would be a great dish to introduce skeptical meat eaters to vegetarian proteins like lentils. I gave some of my leftovers to my meat-eating boyfriend who has never had lentils before, and to my vegetarian sister who's quite familiar with them, and they both loved it!

The ingredients list may look a little intimidating, but a lot of the items are actually pantry staples (I only needed to buy carrots, parsnips, beets, tarragon, and goat cheese), and the recipe isn't difficult to prepare if you time all the steps right. I've tried to write the recipe directions in a way that makes it easy to know exactly when to do everything so that the dish will come together quickly and easily.

As with my lentil granola bars, if you want to help me out with this entry to the Canadian Lentils contest, feel free to leave me a comment on this blog post or head over to my post on the Canadian Lentils Facebook page to 'like' it. As the contest is now coming to a close, you'll also be able to find lots of other entries on their page, so be sure to check them all out if you're interested in finding more recipes using lentils! Thanks guys! :)

Red Wine Lentils with Roasted Vegetables and Goat Cheese

Inspired by Cooking Light

Serves about 4-5

Ingredients:

For the roasted vegetables:

1 cup yellow pearl onions, ends trimmed and peeled
12 oz chopped peeled carrots (about 2 to 3 large carrots)
8 oz chopped peeled parsnips (about 1 to 2 parsnips)
12 oz beets (about 4-5 medium beets), peeled and chopped
10 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon

For the lentils:

3 cups water
1-1/2 cups dry green lentils

For the red wine sauce:

1/2 medium onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
1 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup water
½ a vegetable bouillon cube
Salt and pepper

For topping:

4 oz crumbled goat cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F and line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Chop all the vegetables (pearl onions, carrots, parnsnips, and beets) into small, even pieces, about ½” thick, and transfer to a large bowl along with the garlic cloves. Mix the red wine, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and tarragon in a small bowl, then pour over the vegetables and toss to coat. Transfer the vegetables to the baking sheet, place in the preheated oven, and set the timer for 40 minutes.

When there are 30 minutes left on the timer, combine the lentils and water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Once the water reaches a boil, reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for 25 minutes (which should be the remainder of the time left on the vegetables).

Chop the onion and garlic and prepare ingredients for red wine sauce.

When there are 15 minutes left on the timer, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Once hot, add the onions and garlic, and sauté until softened and golden brown, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the tomato paste, thyme, and tarragon, and stir for another minute. Add the red wine, water, and bouillon cube, and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer about 5 minutes, until slightly reduced and thickened. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.

At this time, your lentils and vegetables should be done cooking. Check both, and allow to cook longer if they’re still hard. Otherwise, combine the lentils, vegetables, and red wine sauce and stir together.

Divide into bowls, top each serving with about 1 ounce of crumbled goat cheese (or more, if desired), and season with salt and pepper if desired. Serve warm.

Risotto with Peas

I absolutely love risotto, but for some reason, I’ve never made it myself. I guess it’s one of those things that I’ve always just assumed is way too hard for someone like me to make (probably because I watch too much Top Chef and risotto always seems to be the dish that the judges criticize the most).

Today, however, I discovered that risotto is actually quite easy to make at home, and I’m kicking myself for not trying it sooner! I feel like now I have to go back and find all those delicious risotto recipes I’ve seen on other blogs but haven’t bothered to bookmark because I thought I couldn’t make them (most recently, for example, this farro risotto with squash and kale from Love & Olive Oil).

Sure, it’s a bit labor intensive because you have to stir the risotto constantly for 20 minutes, but just think of it as your workout for the day. I’m sure you could simultaneously throw in some squats or lunges as you stir, but because I’m on holidays, stirring was enough exertion for me. The rest is easy peasy, as long as you get all your ingredients ready ahead of time (which doesn’t take long at all).

I was nervous that because this was my first time making risotto, it would end up inedible, but it turned out to be amazing! The risotto was creamy, the rice was just the right al dente texture, and the peas added the perfect burst of sweetness to balance out the richness of the dish. Even my dad exclaimed that it was delicious, and he is much more experienced at making risotto than I am!

I’ve written out the recipe as I made it below, but the original version is actually from a video (or “recipideo”: a recipe demonstrated in a video in under 4 minutes), so you can watch this link to see exactly how the risotto is made (and how easy it is!) As you can see, I made a few changes to the original recipe, such as adding parsley, garlic, salt and pepper for added flavour, and leaving out the butter because I thought the risotto tasted rich enough without it.

Now here’s the fun part: Aurora, the company that makes all those delicious Italian products you see in the grocery stores, and who made the recipideo for this risotto, is offering you the chance to win a $50.00 gift certificate to My Italian Cantina, an online store where you can purchase a variety of Italian and European products. All you have to do is make this risotto with peas dish yourself at home (and feel free to make your own substitutions like I did), then snap a photo and visit this link to submit it and be entered to win the $50.00 gift certificate! You have until January 3^rd to enter, and the winners will be announced January 6^th. So hurry up and watch the recipideo, make this delicious risotto, take a quick picture, and enter the contest! Just be warned that the video is set to an extremely catchy song that may end up stuck in your head all day :) Good luck!

UPDATE: The above contest is now closed.

Risotto with Peas

Adapted from Aurora Importing

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

9 cups water

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

1 vegetable bouillon cube (chicken bouillon would also work)

1-1/2 cups superfine Arborio rice

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup dry white wine

1-1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

3-4 tablespoons chopped parsley

Salt & pepper

Directions:

Add the water to a large pot and bring to a boil on the stove. Leave simmering as you make the risotto.

As you wait for the water to boil, prepare all your ingredients so everything is ready to go (chop onion, garlic, and parsley; rinse peas to thaw; grate parmesan; measure out the rice and wine).

Heat olive oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the bouillon cube, rice, and garlic, and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the white wine and stir until absorbed. Set a timer for 18 minutes.

For the duration of the timer, continuously add the simmering water to the rice a ladle at a time, stir until absorbed by the rice, then add another ladle, stir again, etc. Keep stirring constantly! When there are about 3 minutes left on the timer, add the peas.

By the time the 18 minutes is up, you should be almost out of water and the rice should be creamy and al dente.

When done, remove from heat and stir in the parmesan cheese and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.