This is a hearty salad full of nutritious goodness and feels like a substantial meal. Eat warm or cold, as preferred. Completely dairy free and gluten free, it is suitable for many different diets.

Easily feeds 2 people (double up the portions for a good family meal)

Preparation and cooking takes about an hour.

Ingredients

½ cup of green lentils (or other lentils are fine too)

3 medium beetroots (either pre-cooked or if fresh, peeled and diced into 2cm chunks)

1 large sweet potato, cut into 2cm chunks

A generous handful of fresh broad beans

¼ medium red onion, very thinly sliced

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp salt

1 tsp sumac

1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ lime

Edible leaves (whole cauliflower leaves, cabbage leaves or lettuce leaves)

Seeds of your choice to garnish (sunflower seeds work well) or some fresh herbs (coriander, parsley or mint will be tasty) or some super sweet tiny cherry tomatoes (as illustrated)

Method

1. Start by boiling the lentils in one pan, the beetroot (peeled and diced) in another pan (skip this if pre-cooked beetroot) and the broad beans in yet another pan. Remember that lids on pans mean quicker cooking times and lower energy usage.
2. In a mortar grind 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds and ½ tsp salt.
3. Dice the sweet potato into large chunks. To save time you can boil or steam them until they are beginning to get soft and finish them in the oven (10 minutes at 160°C in fan oven). Otherwise you can roast them in the oven for around 40 minutes at 160°C (fan oven). Before you put them in the oven, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle with the spice mix. If they are part-cooked then turn them gently to avoid damaging them. If they are raw then no such worries. Keep an eye on the sweet potatoes in the oven so they don’t burn.
4. When the lentils are soft, drain them and mix in 1 tsp sumac, a pinch of salt, and squeeze in half a lime and a dash of extra virgin olive oil and stir.
5. Drain and cool the broad beans and optionally peel them. In the pan, throw in whole cauliflower leaves or whole cabbage leaves to wilt in boiling water for a minute (unless using lettuce).
6. Cut a ¼ red onion and very thinly slice it. When it is combined with the other ingredients it will almost melt away.
7. When the beetroot are soft, cut the chunks into smaller pieces or slices.
8. In a large pan or mixing bowl, toss together the lentils, sweet potato, broad beans, beetroot and onion.
9. In the serving bowl (or on the plates if plating up restaurant style), place the leaves around to form a green plate or bowl and inside carefully spoon the lentil mix.
10. Garnish the top with a few leaves of fresh herbs (coriander, parsley or mint). Here we had some super sweet tiny cherry tomatoes that complemented the dish really well, but actually better to scatter on some sunflower seeds instead.

Tips

1. The part-cooking of the sweet potato by boiling is an energy saving tip since the oven uses a lot more energy than boiling on the hob to cook the sweet potatoes. To avoid using the oven completely you could instead gently fry the sweet potatoes with oil and spices instead, but this is trickier. For all that boiling, don’t forget to put lids on pans!
2. There are lots of changes that can be made to this fairly easily to give some variety. For example, substitute gourd/squash/pumpkin for the sweet potato. Enjoy warm or cold.