Lentil & Pumpkin Bowl
Easy Lentil and Pumpkin Bowl (PDF) from My Food and Happiness (www.myfoodandhappiness.com) Click here for more info.
* Use Tofu rather than Feta to make this dish suitable for Vegans or those that cannot consume dairy products.
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 flat small pumpkin
1 cup lentils (any kind, black looks better)
1 ½ cup broccoli florets (100g)
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 cup cubed Feta or Tofu *
Handful of pomegranate seeds
Salt & pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp olive oil for the pumpkin plus 1-2 more for the mix
Optional chilli powder
Optional handful of rocket salad leaves
Optional balsamic glaze
Method:
- Preheat oven to 200 ºC / 400 ºF.
- Cut the pumpkin in half (as shown in the video), scoop out the seeds and cut the stem off so the bottom of the “bowl” is flat. You might have to flatten the bottom of both halves, but as long as you cut the stem off it should be flat.
- Generously coat the pumpkin halves in salt and extra virgin olive oil, place them on a baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes in the preheated oven. Time may vary depending on the size of your pumpkin. Check if you can easily pierce the centre of the “bowl” with a fork. It needs to be soft so that you can easily take pieces of pumpkin as you are eating the lentils that you will add later.
- While your pumpkin is cooking, prepare the lentils mix. Add a splash of olive oil into a pan on medium-high heat. Add the lentils, salt, pepper and 2 cups of water. Cook for about 15 minutes or until almost all the water has evaporated, but not all of it.
- Add the fresh thyme and broccoli with a bit more salt, put the lid on and steam the broccoli for about 5 minutes. You can also add some chilli powder if you want to spice things up, but that’s optional.
- Add the tofu or feta cubes and cook for another 2-5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and add the pomegranate seeds (you might want to save some to sprinkle on top of the pumpkin bowls).
- Now that your pumpkin is cooked, place each half in a plate. Fill up each pumpkin bowl with the lentils mix.
- Optional – You can sprinkle some fresh rocket leaves and add a splash of balsamic glaze on top of each pumpkin bowl for some extra flavour and to add that “wow” effect.
