Spicy lentil salad at a long awaited bluebell BBQ

The bluebells have been out in my garden for about a month now. Every weekend, I've been staring at them longingly through the rain on my window, hoping for a few hours of sunshine, so I can get my BBQ out. Today, finally, it happened. Actually, the bluebells are past their prime now, but I was prepared to overlook that minor detail to realize my dream. You have to do that sometimes it seems

It ended up being one of those lovely days, when despite drinking quite a lot, you end up feeling  refreshed and positive about life. The whole weekend's been kind of like that - a proper welcoming of Spring. I really hope now Spring decides to stay. We ate marinated chicken and vegetable skewers, sausages and a couple of salads. The fruity couscous one will be on my YouTube channel shortly. But it was the spicy lentil one that was the real star of the show. Actually, I liked both of them, but the others voted the lentil a firm favourite. It was incredibly flavoursome, a combination of sweet and spicy, and the poles love that 

I soaked the lentils overnight a couple of days before. The next day, I fried a finely chopped carrot, celery stick and small onion in olive oil, added the lentils and covered them in water. Once nearly cooked I added some cumin, salt and pepper, and allowed to cool. The next day I brought it back to the boil and  squeezed in tomato puree until the mixture started to look all pretty and rosey. Then I added some chopped sundried tomatoes, worcestershire sauce and tabasco. I allowed it to cool once more before serving as a cold salad today

Ingredients

Dried green lentils

Carrot

Celery stick

Onion

Cumin

Tomato puree

Jar of sundried tomatoes in oil

Worcestershire sauce

Tabasco

Salt and pepper