Beetroot and black lentils

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source: Personal recipe (see below)

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This is a good, healthy way to enjoy beetroot, with a delicious balsamic glaze! The recipe is also very low fuss. Just remember beetroot always takes way longer to cook than you think. Leave at least 40 minutes for roasting the beetroot (that's also why I prefer to chop them before roasting to make it cook quicker). I've also thought about precooking them in the instant pot until they're nearly done (to save time), then finishing them in the oven. But I haven't tried it yet so I'll update this when I do to see how it turns out.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 350g beetroots, peeled and chopped into bitesize pieces
• 1/2 red onion, peeled and quartered
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp syrup (e.g. golden syrup, rice syrup, doesn't really matter as long as it's not too dark)
• 150g dried black lentils
• 2 1/4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 large clove garlic, smashed
• pinch of salt
• small bunch of spinach
• chopped roasted hazelnuts, for garnish

Method

1. Combine the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and syrup in a small bowl
2. Place a big piece of foil on an oven tray, then add the beetroot and red onions, toss and coat with the vinegar syrup mixture, then fold the foil up into a little package (so the sauce doesn't cook and evaporate too quickly before the beets are done)
3. Roast at 200 for about 40 minutes or until the beets are cooked. Towards the end of the cooking time you can open up the foil to let the sauce thicken.
4. About half way through the beet cooking time, make the lentils by cooking them in the stock with a bay leaf, smashed clove of garlic, and some salt until the lentils are soft.
5. Remove the bay leaf and discard. Remove the garlic clove and mush in a small bowl with a bit of olive oil.
6. Add the spinach to the lentils, allow it to wilt into them, then drain the lentils to remove any excess stock.
7. Add the smushed garlic back into the lentils along with the beetroot, onions and their lovely sticky sauce. Stir to coat the lentils in the sauce.
8. Top with chopped hazelnuts and serve