Food & Friendship
Food
We believe food tastes better when shared.
We use surplus food donated by supermarkets and distributed by FareShare Brighton and Hove, UK Harvest and Neighbourly. This helps to reduce food waste. We also collect unwanted food that is still good to eat from local supermarkets including Sainsburys Portland Road and Lidl. The donations can be interesting and have included quails eggs, venison and smoked salmon. Usually they include a large range of fresh fruit, vegetables, tinned and frozen food and dairy and meat. We sometimes have to be very inventive!
We cook a variety of meals including traditional favourites such as cottage pie, casserole, chicken curry, sausage and mash with onion gravy to apple crumble with custard and bread and butter pudding.
But it is our home made soups that seem to be the most popular. We have quite a few favourites including leek and potato, carrot and coriander, butternut squash, pea and mint, minestrone, cream of tomato and a particular favourite, tomato basil and lentil, see recipe below.
Tomato Basil and Lentil Soup
This store cupboard soup is easy to make and very cheap and nutritious.
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tins chopped or plum tomatoes
6 oz red lentils, washed and drained (See note below)
2 medium brown onions
2 pints good quality vegetable stock
2 teaspoons dried basil
Small bunch of fresh basil (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
A splash of olive oil
Method
Peel and roughly chop the onion.
Soften the onion in a little olive oil in a large saucepan for a few minutes over a gentle heat taking care not to brown it.
Add the washed lentils, tinned tomatoes, vegetable stock and dried basil and stir well.
Bring to the boil then simmer gently on a low heat for about 30 minutes.
Allow to cool a little and then blend the soup with a stick blender until smooth, Adjust the seasoning and, if necessary, thin it down with a little more stock.
Serve with crusty bread and a sprinkle of fresh basil.
Washing Red Lentils
Washing Red Lentils help to prevent a scum forming during cooking and can help to reduce the bloating effects after eating – it really works!
Put the lentils in a large bowl and pour cold water over the top to cover them. Mix around until the water becomes cloudy and then strain with a sieve. Repeat this wash and rinse two more times until the water is no longer cloudy.