This recipe was originally taken from Greg and Lucy Malouf’s book Moorish (Hardie Grant Books, 2001) and in our house has gone through many metamorphoses over as many years. It is always a hit, and it is something you can whip up quickly especially if the lentils are already cooked, but they don’t take long anyway. The recipe calls for a middle eastern spice mix, chermoula, but I have made this many times when in a hurry by just throwing in the elements that go into chermoula: (garlic, cumin, coriander seeds, paprika, chillies and lemon juice) at the start with the onion. This is the recipe for Chermoula – it lasts for weeks in the frig and is good to use with lots of dishes so it’s worth making.

• 200 g puy lentils (can use brown lentils but they go mushier)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp chermoula
• 1 brown onion
• 1 large bunch silverbeet leaves, washed and ripped into pieces
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 x 440 ml tin diced tomatoes in juice
• 100 gm feta cheese

Cook the lentils until just tender – about 20 minutes- with plenty of water, and drain.

In a frying pan heat the olive oil until hot. Add the chermoula and onions and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the lentils and tomatoes and bring back to the boil then allow to simmer for 5 minutes to let the flavours mingle together.

Turn down the heat and pile the silverbeet on top, put on a lid and allow the residual heat to wilt the leaves. When the leaves have collapsed stir through the mixture and sprinkle the crumbled feta on top.