Ballerina Bites: Savoury Lentil Balance Bowl

For this month's cooking inspiration lovely dancer & foodie Alexandra McMaster (otherwise known as Ballerina Bites) is back with this vibrant, mouth-watering dish that makes a perfect post-dance meal. Enjoy!

You will truly love diving your fork into this bowl of nourishing, filling and tasty lentil goodness!

My Savoury Lentil Balance Bowl has three essential nutrients, of complex carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats, that help build muscle tone and maintain a healthy athletic ballet body.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 punnet of mushroom, roughly cubed
1 capsicum, cubed
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 red chili, chopped
1 heaped tbsp sweet paprika powder
3 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1 cup brown lentils rinsed
2 cups water
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Large handful of basil, roughly chopped
Salt & pepper to taste
500g of butternut pumpkin
1 broccoli head cut into small florets
1⅓ cup quinoa

Method

Pre-heat oven to 170°C
Line oven tray with baking paper
Cut pumpkin into 2 cm cubes and spread evenly over lined oven tray
Drizzle pumpkin with olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper
In a large saucepan add olive oil and sauté onion over medium heat
Add cubed mushrooms, chopped capsicum and fry until mushroom juices have evaporated
Add garlic, chili, sweet paprika powder and cook for a further two minutes
Add tomato paste, tamari, lentils and water
Stir thoroughly and increase heat, until mixture boils
Reduce to simmer and cook for 30-40 minutes or until lentils are tender

Meanwhile, add quinoa to a medium saucepan with 2 ⅔ cups of water
Bring to the boil, cover quinoa and reduce heat to low
Cook for 20- 30 minutes

Once lentils have absorbed the water, stir through apple cider vinegar, basil and season with salt and pepper
Blanch broccoli in boiling water for two minutes, so it’s still vibrant in colour

To Serve

Evenly distribute quinoa, lentils, pumpkin and broccoli between 3 bowls and enjoy!
Note: For an added boost of nutrition, add a bag of spinach to the lentils!