Cyber chef

Firstly I want to thank you all for visiting - my counter has passed 7000 visits now - a number I couldn´t believe some months ago... I still think it is so fun to blog about food and meet other foodies - in the comments and mails or even for real. Today for example I met Anne for a truly unusal lunch, but more on that subject when I get the photo of her, me and...

Last week I participated in the Swedish edition of Paper chef, called Cyberkocken i.e. Cyber chef. Phew. That was complicated. Anyway, the winner was Frida of the Swedish food blog Broccoli with some fantastic-sounding meatballs with lentils. I will try it and translate it some time. Another winner is Lexi of Catching points (also linked) who blogs in English and won the prize for "quick and easy" with a scrumptious lentil salad with ricotta...

My own contribution to the contest (the given ingredients were red lentils, rocket salad, pistachio nuts and something yellow) was with a recipe I am very proud of, tweaked a bit to fit in with the ingredients. I made it up many years ago when I had a party for some friends. Among the guest was a girl who was lactose intolerant and also a vegetarian and I created these peppers with lentils because I wanted her to have something nice and warm and filling. As it turned out not only she but all of the guests loved them so I have made them many many times since! They are tasty warm and cold but doesn´t freeze well, but you could make a double batch of lentils and freeze that. It also makes a good soup if you pour some water in... Now the recipe!

Kristinas peppers with lentils and spring salad with rocket and pistachios.
Serves 6 on a buffet or 3-4 people as a main course. (I served it with some grilled chicken as you can see in the picture)
6 medium peppers, I like them in different colours
1 finely chopped yellow onion
1 tin peeled whole tomatoes or 3-4 fresh, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large bay leaf
200 ml red lentils
salt and freshly ground black pepper
large pinch of dried herbs, I often use herbes de Provence or a small handful of fresh thyme
If you want: some grated cheese (I used some left over halloumi this time)

Cut off a lid on the peppers and remove seeds. Rinse and put in an ovenproof dish. I never parboil them, don´t think it is necessary. Chop up the lids and the onion and sauté in some olive oil until a little soft. Add the red lentils and the tomatoes with the spice and bay leaf and stir. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes until the lentils are soft. The mix should get really thick, but watch it so it doesn´t burn. Spice to taste.
Use a large spoon and fill the peppers to the brim with the lentils. Crumble over osme cheese if you like (feta cheese is wonderful!) Bake in 200C 20-30 minutes until the peppers are alittle soft and the cheese has some colour...

The salad is simple but delicious. I just spread the salad on a plate and stirred a little yoghurt with some lemon zest - drizzled it over the salad and added, at the last minute, some toasted pistacios right from the pan, still warm... I also used some flakes of my Fleur du sel.