Roasted carrots with beluga lentils and In defense of food – Michael Pollan

Sometimes it just baffles me a little. People that are anxious to tell me that how I eat is maybe not the best way. Only to stuff their face with the next flavor of Magnum (which is delicious by the way.. 🙂 )

I don’t always eat healthy. I don’t always make the best food choices. I’ve had my share of problems when it comes to food and I will be the last person on this planet to tell you what to put in your mouth. It’s entirely up to you really. But lately I have been reading more and more on the subject and it all slowly starts to make sense. It helps also that I am studying holistic nutrition at the moment as that puts things even more into perspective. I don’t always agree with the things I learn at the course. That might sound a bit weird but I think with nutrition, more than anything else, there are so many opinions out there that it is virtually impossible to know it all. For every scientific study there is another one that contradicts it. For every truthful scientific study there is bound to be one that is funded by a large company which slightly (or not so slightly) changes the (bought) opinion of the ‘scientists’ that conducted the study.

And that counts for the theory we get as well. Most of it totally makes sense but a couple of things don’t so much. I take out of it what I think is of value and overall I think it is a great course. I love learning more and one of the things we had on our to-do list was to read a book of choice and make that into a one page recap. I chose to read ‘In defense of food’ by Michael Pollan. I am a big fan of his books and movies and if you don’t know him yet check it out. Recently I watch “Cooked” on netflix which is very interesting and In defense of food is another highly recommended read. His view is simple and it is also the subtitle of the book and really says it all “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants”

And in keeping in that spirit I have here a delicious dish that is a recipe from Sarah Britton of My New Roots. A great site if you’re also looking into eating more plants and this one is delicious. Another change I am making to the site is that from now on, below every recipe I will share how I took the photo and the equipment and settings I used. If you’re not interested in that just stop scrolling after the recipe and if you are scroll a little further! Enjoy!

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5 from 1 vote

Roasted carrots with fennel and black lentils

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 35 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 500 gr carrots
• 500 gr fennel
• 2 red onions
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt/pepper
• 250 ml 1 cup Greek Yogurt
• zest of 1 lime
• pinch of sea salt
• 225 gr black lentils beluga lentils
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• fresh mint

Harissadressing

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1-4 tsp harissa
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• ½ tbsp maple syrup
• seasalt

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 200˚C. Brush the carrots clean and cut in half lengthwise. Wash the fennel and cut into thin slices lengthwise as well. Peel and cut the onion into 8 quarters.
• Spread the carrots out on a baking tray and rub with a little coconut oil. Do the same with the fennel and the onion on another tray. Place in the oven to roast for about 25-35 minutes until soft and slightly burned around the edges. The carrots maybe need a shorter time so keep an eye on things. Remove from the oven and season with salt and pepper.
• Cook the lentils while the veggies are roasting. Wash them well and rinse until the water runs clear. Place into a saucepan and cook for about 15 minutes. Add 1/2 tsp of salt at the end, stir and cook for a further 5 minutes or until soft. Drain and rinse. Stir a little olive oil through them and salt and pepper to taste.
• For the dressing place the ingredients together and mix. Start with 1 tsp of harissa and ad more if you like spicy. It needs to be spicy but not inedible!
• Add the roasted vegetables to the dressing and shake until it is all covered.
• Combine the lemon with the yogurt
• To bring it all together you divide the yogurt over four place and add the lentils. Stack the vegetables on top, sprinkle with salt, mint and drizzle any remaining dressing over it.

Disclaimer

The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.

Did you make this recipe?Mention @simoneskitchen or tag #simoneskitchen!

How I took the shot

Settings: Canon EOS 5D mark IV. Lens: 24-70mm f2.8 (Canon) on 66mm (settings are for the first photo in this post only)

ISO 160, aperture 4.5, shutterspeed 1/15 s

I used a tripod to take the shot and as you can see it was a topshot or flatlay. The light was coming from behind but because the studio has many windows there was some non directional lighting coming from the side and a little from the back. I didn’t use any reflection material at all and processed the shot in Lightroom. I increased the clarity and contrast, vibrance and a tiny bit of extra light.

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