Black rice, lentil and aubergine pilaf

By: David Frenkiel, Luise Vindahl Andersen
From: Green Kitchen At Home
Serves: 6
Photographer: David Frenkiel

The taste, texture and visual aspects of this salad are all rather appealing. It’s packed with spices, has lots of filling elements and an armada of shades and colours. Technically, I would put this recipe somewhere in between a pilaf and a salad, as it has both the qualities of flavoured rice and a generous, hearty salad.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
200g	black or brown rice, rinsed, see recipe note
200g	green lentils, rinsed
1 teaspoon	cardamom seeds
1 teaspoon	sea salt
8 tablespoons	extra-virgin olive oil
11/2	lemons, juiced
1/2 teaspoon	ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon	ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon	chilli powder
A pinch	sea salt flakes
1	aubergine, stem removed
1/2	cucumber, topped and tailed, halved and seeds removed
1/2	red onion, peeled
1	ripe avocado, stone removed and flesh scooped out
100g	spinach
1 handful	fresh mint, leaves picked
20	unsulphured dried apricot halves
	sea salt
	freshly ground black pepper

To serve

Quantity	Ingredient
	full-fat plain unsweetened yoghurt
	pistachio nuts, roughly chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Place the rice, lentils, cardamom, salt and 1 litre water in a medium-sized saucepan, cover and bring to the boil, then simmer for about 30 minutes or until tender and the water has been absorbed. Drain any excess water and set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, place half the oil, juice of 1 lemon, spices and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl and whisk until combined.
Cut the aubergine into bite-sized pieces, add to the bowl, toss until well coated and transfer to the baking tray. Bake for 25–30 minutes or until tender and golden. Set aside to cool.
In the meantime, slice the cucumber, finely slice the onion, cut the avocado into bite-sized pieces and roughly chop the spinach, mint and apricots.
Put the rice and lentils in a serving bowl, add the remaining oil and juice of ½ lemon and toss to coat. Add the aubergine and the rest of the ingredients, season to taste and gently toss to combine. Serve topped yoghurt and pistachio nuts.

Rice

Rice can differ in cooking time. Choose a variety with the same cooking time as your lentils.

Tips

If you are sensitive to raw onion, massage the slices with 1 tbsp of lemon juice to make the flavour less intense and easier to digest.

For a nut-free alternative, replace the pistachio nuts with pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.

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Black rice, lentil and aubergine pilaf

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