Roasted Carrot and Red Lentil Dip

Before I get on to discussing this recipe I had to own up to something I did at the weekend, it is not that bad but I watched the whole of 24 Season 9. I know it is a bit excessive but I had actually already watched the first 9 and then decided I had to watch it all together and waiting a week was really irritating. I am now just really hoping that they make another series so I know what happens. If you haven’t seen it I can recommend it as this season only had 12 episodes which allowed them to move quickly and be packed with interesting story lines.

That is probably enough of I love 24 and Jack Bauer and I am guessing you might want to know a little bit about the recipe. Firstly I want to tell you a bit about where the idea for this recipe came from. Basically every lunch, virtually I eat salad, dips and sour dough bread and sit down with my mum and at the moment my cousin. Recently I made a Flageolet Bean and Kale Hummus and it went down so well they were saying I should make more dips. So that got me thinking about other interesting dips I could make when I came up with this one.

There is quite a kick to this dip as it contains chilli powder and the fact that it uses carrots, roasted garlic and red lentils means it is quite sweet and then there are the cumin seeds which has to be one of the things I use most in my kitchen. It is a great compliment to this dip and really gives it a deep flavour. I am aware that as dips go this takes a bit longer to make than most but it will be worth it. Keep it in the fridge and treat yourself or make this for a dinner party and you are sure to wow people.

Another great thing about this dip is that it is low GI and very low GL, obviously the figures calculate for the glycemic index are estimated and as the GI of carrots has a plus or minus 16 next to the number or 47 I have taken the number of 47 but there may be some variation. However if you are looking for a low GL snack then a portion of this with a couple of oat cakes or some raw veggies is sure to do the trick.

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Roasted Carrot & Red Lentil Dip

Serves 8

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 40-50 mins (plus 30 mins cooling)

Total Time: 80-90 mins

Ingredients

350g/12.3oz Carrots (roughly 4 medium carrots)
6 Garlic Cloves
100g/1/2 Cup Red Lentils
2 tsp Cumin Seeds
1/2 tsp Chilli Powder

1 tbs Medium or Mild Olive Oil
2 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 tsp Low Sodium Salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4

2. Cut carrots into chunks, place in a baking tray with garlic cloves, still in papers. Pour over medium or mild olive oil and mix well.

3. Place in oven and roast until carrots are soft and beginning to brown. When they are about 10 minutes from completion add the cumin seeds to the baking tray and mix well with carrots.

4. While the carrots are roasting, cook the red lentils and set aside to cool.

5. When we the carrots are soft, remove from oven and leave to cool slightly.

6. When you can easily handle your carrots, transfer them to a food processor with the cumin seeds. Remove the garlic from the papers and add to the food processor.

7. Add the lentils, chilli powder, extra virgin olive oil and salt to food processor and blend until smooth.

8. Taste and add more salt if needed, also if you want a thinner consistency you can add more olive oil at this stage and blend again.

Nutrition

This dip has a lot of benefits that come from the lentils and the carrots. The first thing of note that you will get a massive dose of vitamin A if you eat this dip. You will also find it is high in dietary fibre and as a result will have a very small impact on your blood sugar.

The nutrition highlights are:

• Approximate GI of 29
• Estimated GL of 2
• No cholesterol
• Low in sodium
• High in dietary fiber
• Very high in vitamin A