Winter salad

Serves: 4
Course: Starter
Cooking Time: 0 hr 15 mins
Ingredients
  • <ul> <li>500g Puy lentils</li> <li>Bay leaf</li> <li>125ml olive oil</li> <li>6-8 raw chorizo sausages or 2 ready to eat chorizo sausages (about 400g)</li> <li>250g baby spinach</li> <li>Big bunch parsley</li> <li>1 x 450g tin artichokes, drained</li> <li>200g goat’s cheese</li> <li>1 tbsp wholegrain mustard</li> <li>1 tsp honey</li> <li>2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed</li> <li>50ml sherry vinegar</li> <li>salt and pepper</li> </ul>

Serves 4-6
Give the Puy lentils a good rinse and then cook in plenty of boiling water with the bay leaf and splash of olive oil until tender. Then drain well and leave them to continue draining and stay warm while you finish off the dish.

While the lentils are cooking, cook the raw chorizo sausages by frying in pan with a little oil to get them going or by grilling them, same as you would regular sausages. Or slice the cooked/cured chorizo sausages and fry them in a little oiled oil until crispy on both sides. These are my preference as they go very crispy and are full of flavour. Drain on kitchen paper and then put the lentils in a large bowl and mix with the chorizo slices. Add the spinach and toss. The residual heat will wilt the spinach ever so slightly. Chop the parsley and mix along with the artichokes, which you can slice in half. Mix the wholegrain mustard with the honey and garlic and then whisk in the remaining live oil. Add the vinegar, whisk and season with some salt and black pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad; mix well and season to taste. Pile onto plates with some more leaves if you fancy it and crumble some goats cheese on top.

Domini Kemp

Domini Kemp

Domini Kemp, a contributor to The Irish Times, is a chef and food writer