Beetroot, red onion and black lentils with dill-sour cream recipe

This looks very dramatic because of the colours – black, crimson and white. It’s easy to find cooked black lentils these days, but they tend to be too soft, so make your own if you can find the dried version. They’re stocked by planetorganic.com, buywholefoodsonline.co.uk (an independent company with an incredible range of foods) and Amazon.

Timings

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 35 minutes

Serves 

8 as part of a spread

Ingredients

• 2 red onions
• 8 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
• 250g dry black lentils (or you can use Puy or Umbrian)
• 1½ tsp wholegrain mustard
• 500g cooked beetroot
• a handful of crimson leaves, such as radicchio, torn
• 15g walnuts (or hazelnuts), toasted and roughly chopped

For the dressing

• 150g sour cream
• 1 tbsp double cream, or as needed
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ tbsp white balsamic vinegar, or as needed
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp chopped dill, plus more for sprinkling on top

Method

1. Heat the oven to 190C/180C fan/gas mark 5.
2. Peel and halve the onions. Cut them into wedges 1-2cm thick at the thickest part. Put them into a small roasting tin and add 2 tbsp of the olive oil and1 tbsp of the balsamic vinegar. Season and toss together. Roast for 30-35 minutes, or until tender and slightly charred at the tips.
3. Meanwhile, rinse the lentils, then put them in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring the water to the boil, turn the heat right down and cook until tender (15-25 minutes, depending on the age of the lentils – watch them carefully, they can overcook in the blink of an eye). Drain.
4. Toss the lentils and the roast onions with 6 tbsp of the olive oil, 2 tbsp of the balsamic vinegar, some salt, pepper and the mustard. Set this aside – the lentils will suck up the flavours around them.
5. Make the sour cream dressing by mixing all the ingredients together with some seasoning. Taste to see whether you want to make any adjustments (more balsamic vinegar, more double cream or more seasoning).
6. Cut the beetroot into wedges and season. Arrange the leaves on a serving plate or broad shallow bowl. Add the nuts to the lentils, spoon them on to the leaves and add the beetroot. Drizzle on the sour cream dressing (or serve it on the side) and sprinkle with more dill. Serve.