This is great side dish served warm at dinner and great served cold the next day on your picnic table. This was one of the recipes that accompanied the hot-smoked trout and during last week’s sold-out cooking class with dinner. For those of you who missed it, here’s the recipe. It is not only delicious but also a great source of vitamin-rich protein.
1 c. uncooked dried lentils
2 1/2 c. water
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup of EVOO
2 to three medium shallots
2 to 3 threads of saffron
4 med. sized raw carrots
1 to 2 tbsps. of your favorite fresh herb
Soak your lentils overnight. Cook in the water with the salt, bay leaf, garlic, and onion until tender, about 45 minutes. Drain and cool. Save the cooking water and freeze it for later use in soups.
Wash carrots well and grate on larger whole of grater. Lightly saute carrots in the olive oil with the shallots for no longer than 5 minutes and add the saffron at the very end. You still want the carrots crunchy. Add salt and pepper to taste.
In a large non-metal bowl, mix together the lentils. Add some cilantro or parsely or other fresh herb like oregano and also use to garnish your serving platter. Serve at warm or at room temperature.
Pair with a bottle of White Merlot from Lieb Cellars. The Merlot Blanc (white merlot). Made from the red Merlot grape, the fruit is harvested early in the season, and delicately crushed to extract the most concentrated juice; full of bright fruit flavors and balanced acidity. The juice has no contact to the red skins of the grape, resulting in the wines light color.
