SCHOOL PRAWN AND BELUGA LENTIL SALAD
These beautiful little Beluga lentils are my new best friends, particularly when they’re part of this School Prawn and Beluga Lentil Salad.
Named for their apparent resemblance to caviar (hmm, really?) Beluga lentils have all the advantages of other lentils, in that they’re packed with protein, iron, potassium, polyphenols, folate and fibre, and they’re also low in kilojoules. That’s not bad for a start.
But then, these black lentils, apart from being the most nutritious variety of all, also retain their firm texture and dark good looks when cooked.
All this makes them the perfect foil for the sweet pink school prawns and crunchy greens in this really good salad.
Jan
SCHOOL PRAWN AND BELUGA LENTIL SALAD
Serves 4
200 gm black beluga lentils, (ideally soaked overnight)
1½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
Sea salt and black pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 shallots, finely sliced
3 spring onions, sliced
1 stick celery, trimmed and finely diced
1 long red chilli, trimmed, deseeded and diced
½ bunch dill, de-stemmed
500 gm school prawns, cooked and peeled (around 250gm prawn meat)
80 gm Persian feta, crumbled
Drain lentils, place in a pan and cover generously with cold water. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until lentils are tender, for perhaps 20-25 minutes. (Cooking time will depend on soaking time so start checking for doneness after 15 minutes.)
Drain lentils and transfer to a bowl. Add vinegar and salt and pepper. Leave to sit for a few minutes and adjust, adding vinegar or seasoning to taste.
Add olive oil and mix through lentils, along with shallots, spring onions, celery, chilli and dill.
Heat a frying pan with a small amount of oil. Add the prawns and flash-fry them just to warm them.
Mix the prawns into the lentil salad and crumble with feta to serve.
TIP: Because school or harbour prawns are highly perishable in their raw state they are often frozen or boiled at sea as soon as they are caught.
If you can find fresh green school prawns, you’ll only need to cook them once, briefly, in very salty boiling water, then peel while warm.
If you’ve bought prawns already cooked, be careful just to reheat, and not overcook them, as they can easily lose their appeal.