So to give an example of a lentil (vegan) recipe. This is what I’m making tonight: lentil and bean chilli
Basically chop an onion/red/pepper/a Garlic clove/mushrooms.
Sauté in a tablespoon of olive oil in a fairly deep pan.
Meanwhile grab a cup of whole lentils and rinse in a sieve, also a Tin of Red Kidney beans and chick peas drained. And have a carton of passata nearby.
Once onion is soft add a tablespoon of powder cumin to the mix and a teaspoon of hot chilli powder (more if you like your food with a good spicy bite). Stir in the spices for a couple of minutes, gently soaking the veg in it.
Then chuck the lentils/chick peas and kidney beans to the mix, stir for a bit longer.
Now add the passata and fill the passata carton again with water (or you could use a knorr veggie stock cube for more flavour). Chuck it in the pan. Stir and mix and bring to the boil briefly.
Add a pinch of mixed herbs and a bit of salt to taste.
Put the lid on and simmer gently for at least 45 minutes. Check the liquid levels as the whole lentils swell and absorb liquid, maybe after 30 minutes check and add water if the liquid is all gone and the chilli mix is looking dry.
After 45 mins you can eat. If you want to keep it simmering for an hour that’s fine but check the water levels. It should have a nice thick sauce, not too runny not too thick.
Serve in bowls with a few tortilla chips or if you’re being super strict with 3 Ryvitas (crunchy and low cal/carb). If you have fresh coriander to hand it’s nice to sprinkle some on top too.
For variations on above chilli lentil recipe you could use medium curry powder instead, then presto! Lentil curry, you could add sweet potato or carrots instead of more chick peas or beans. You can also make the same but more of a mild comfort winter stew by using vegetable stock instead of passata for the sauce and adding rosemary/herbs/salt and pepper. Add frozen peas instead of beans.
Endless variations and pulses in moderation are allowed in the 800 fast diet. You could even add some chopped chorizo to make it more Spanish style and chuck in Spanish paprika to the lentil herbs.
Serve it with cauliflower rice or brown rice (small portion).
While brown lentils are best but French pouy Black lentils work okay too. Do not use the orange split lentils for soup as they will lack bite.
Finally, above makes 4 good sized portions. It’s fine to reheat a bowl in microwave the day after as a second healthy meal. It’s allowed and we’ve carried on losing weight eating a lentil based meal like the ones I’ve described above and it really helps with the carb cravings 