Roasted garlic dal

Lentils are high in iron and folate, which are essential for forming healthy cells, especially red blood cells

Rate this recipe

55 minutes
Serves 2
1 of 5 a day

Nutrition: Per serving

Kcal478
Fat11.2g
Salt1.1g
Sugar5.7g

Recipe by: Ryan Riley | Chef

By roasting the garlic in this recipe low and slow for a long time, you’re allowing the sugars in the garlic to caramelise and give a mellow sweeter flavour than fresh garlic.

This is from Ryan Riley’s booklet of recipes to help people living with cancer enjoy food again. See all our recipes for people living with cancer.

Recipe for people living with cancer

Ingredients

2 heads garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 small onions, thinly sliced into half moons
180g dried yellow lentils, rinsed (red, orange and black lentils also work)
1 tablespoon brown miso

TO SERVE:

2 wholemeal flatbreads

Method

Preheat the oven to 200^oC/Fan 180^oC.
Wrap both heads of garlic in tin foil and place them onto a baking tray. Bake them in the oven for 45 minutes or until they’re soft and aromatic. They should be soft enough for the cloves to be easily squeezed out of their skins.
In the meantime, place a medium-sized saucepan on a medium-low heat and add the oil. Add the onions and fry them gently until they are very soft and sweet-smelling – don’t add any salt to the onions as this will stop the lentils from cooking.
Once the onions have softened, add the lentils to the pan and then fill the pan with 300ml water and bring to the boil. Boil the lentils for 10 minutes then reduce to simmer and cover for 30 minutes or until the lentils have completely softened. If the lentils are looking a little dry, top up the pan with boiling water.
Once the lentils are completely soft, squeeze all the soft cooked garlic into the pan and stir through well. Add in the miso, stir well and allow the lentils to gently simmer for another 10 minutes.
Serve hot or cold with flatbreads.

SERVING SUGGESTION: For an extra portion of fruit and vegetables, serve alongside some wilted spinach.