Red Lentil and Black Bean Leftover Salad

Hello. I'm here to report a catastrophe. During today's beautiful lunch salad, I managed to break my daisy salad bowl. Clumsy fingers. I'm infamous for crockery casualties. You name it, I've broken it. I have to keep slinking into charity shops to top up my cooking equipment. In my house, I am a legendary figure that inauspiciously appears in the kitchen area and makes plates and bowls disappear! Or...well...BREAK INTO A THOUSAND PIECES.

Here is my oh-so-lovely daisy bowl, minutes before the tragedy.

Oh, I can barely look!

In daisy-bowl's memory, I will write you the recipe for her very last salad.

Seeing as it's the end of the week, I was thinking how best to use up the leftovers in the fridge. And this is what I came up with:

(All quantities are approximate because I forgot to measure)

{1 cup} red split lentils, cooked and cool
{1 cup} black beans (tinned), drained and rinsed
{1/4} sweet red onion, roughly chopped
{1/4 cup} dried cranberries, plus more for decoration
{1/4 cup} dried raisins, plus more for decoration
{A couple of sprigs} fresh coriander, roughly chopped
{1 tbsp} red wine vinegar
{1 tbsp} grapeseed oil
{1/8 tsp} sea salt
Rocket and salad leaves

...I think that was it.

In a bowl, pour boiling water over the cranberries and raisins and leave to soak for a few minutes to soften them up. Meanwhile, chuck together the lentils, beans, onion, salad leaves, rocket, and coriander. Mix them all up! Drain off the cranberries and raisins, and add them with everything else. Pour over the red wine vinegar, grapeseed oil, and salt. Stir-stir-stir. Throw in a few more cranberries and raisins...because it looks pretty. Et voila! Simple.

R.I.P. Daisy.

Toasted Walnut Spaghetti With Lentils

High protein concentration. After a week of swimming, running, and yoga, my body is in need of some carbilicious (and protein-heavy) dishes.

{1 serving} wholewheat spaghetti (75g)
{1/4 cup} walnuts, lightly toasted
{1/2 cup and 3 tbsp} passata
{1/4 tsp} chilli powder
{A pinch} ground coriander
{1 and 1/2 or 2 tbsp} virgin extra olive oil (make it a fancy one)
{2 and 1/2 tbsp} nutritional yeast flakes
{1 and 1/2 tbsp} tomato ketchup
{1 clove} garlic, chopped very finely (alternatively 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
{1/2 tsp} dried basil (fresh would be better, but I'm at the mercy of my kitchen cupboards)
{1/4 tsp} ground black pepper (or to taste)
{1/2 tsp} sea salt
{A pinch} crushed chilli
{A good 1/2 cup} chopped red capsicum
{1 - 2 cups} fresh spinach, destalked
{1/2 cup} cooked red lentils (not too well cooked - mushiness is not your friend)

Some of the ingredients. Pretty bowls all in a row...

Cook the spaghetti in boiling water, as per instruction on the packet. Add a little salt. If you need to cook the lentils, do so now - but don't overcook - and set aside.

Meanwhile! In a dry saucepan, toast the walnuts over a moderate heat, making sure you don't burn them. Once they're all toastie, throw in the rest of the ingredients, including the lentils (but not the spinach! Leave that until later). Heat on medium-low for 8 minutes.

Rinse spinach in a collander.

Pour in the cooked spaghetti.

And top it off with the saucy-sauce

Stir it all up and season with a little salt and pepper, if you like.

Coming to a food blog near you: the perfect garlic bread recipe to accompany this dish.

WARNING: this dish may cause cohabitants to utter the accursed words: "you will make someone a good wife one day," and talk about all your future offsprogs. Best to make this cullinary baby incognito to avoid casual sexism.