Lentils - Love 'em or not?

This is a vegetarian dish that I've been making for years. I first tried it back in the early 90's after finding the recipe in the Age Epicure section. Back then Epicure was on a couple of the newspapers' pages, not the pull out, stand alone supplement it is now

Anyway, it's an aromatic lentil dish that has some cummin and curry in it...not too much though

Again, the photographs aren't top notch as they were taken on my mobile phone...

For 2 people you'll need:
----------------------------
1 brown onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup lentils
2 handfuls of spinach (I love spinach so I usually double this)
1 teaspoon cummin powder
1 teaspoon curry powder

Here's what you do
----------------------
Fry the chopped onion in a little oil then stir in the cummin and curry powders and mix till the aroma hits you

Add the tomatoes and lentils, then cover with water, (about a cup) put on the lid and cook for about 3/4 of an hour. This may take longer, just cook until the lentils are soft and the tomatoes have collapsed and the onions have disappeared.

Turn off the heat and add the spinach, stir well and let sit until the spinach has wilted.

Put a dollop of yogurt on top and serve with good crusty bread

To make it a little more interesting, you can also add some chopped mushrooms and capsicum at the start to boost the veggie content. I've even included some pieces of pumpkin when I've had them in the fridge

Hope you like it.

Baking - Carrot Cake

It's been a long time between drinks...or recipes, but I'm here and I'm cookin'!

This carrot cake recipe is easier than I thought it would be. I'm used to making my tried and tested banana cake, but I think this is even better.

Here's what you'll need
---------------------------

 3 Eggs
 1 Cup White Sugar (or half white & half brown)
 ¾ Cup Cooking Oil (Virgin Olive Oil)
 1 1/3 Cups Of Flour
 ½ Teaspoon salt
 1 1/3 teaspoons Bicarb Soda
 1 1/3 teaspoons baking powder
 1 1/3 teaspoons cinnamon
 2 cups grated raw carrot
 ½ cup nuts (I used half walnuts and half pecans)
 1 teaspoon vanilla


Here's what you do
----------------------
 
Grease a square 8” tin. (I used a round one)
Heat oven to 300 Deg F (150 Deg C).

Beat eggs and sugar until frothy.
Add oil, stir in sifted dry ingredients then fold in carrot, nuts and vanilla.
Bake for  55mins to 1 hour.

When cool, ice with a cream cheese frosting

Frosting
----------

 4oz cream cheese
 250g (½ lb) icing sugar
 a few drops of lemon juice

It really is that simple....and it's great with a cuppa....which is what I'm about to have right now.

The photos aren't that good as they were taken on my mobile phone...hopefully I'll have a new camera soon.