Somebody threw away my lunch. Or maybe the office mice got into the fridge. Either way, somebody's in my bad books … But in the meantime, I was down one lunch. Luckily, I remembered that I had a packet of microwaveable lentils in my drawer. Problem solved?
This handy pack from Merchant Gourmet doesn’t need to be fridged,
so can sit happily in a cupboard or desk drawer for a year or two – you can stock up, then forget about it. The company
is best known for dried products such as tomatoes and grains, but has branched
out into the meal market. As well as this porcini effort, the range includes puy lentils, black ‘beluga’ lentils and
puy with sun dried tomato and basil. It’s not clear whether these are supposed to be a
side dish or main meal, but the 250g size and 1 minute microwaveable nature
makes them perfect for an office lunch.
It was something of a pleasant surprise. The lentils are a great texture, dry enough to be lifted
with a fork, but also mushy. As lentils do, these have absorbed all the
flavours they were cooked with, which in this case are herby, white wine and
umami. I can’t specifically taste porcini, but the salty savouriness is good
enough for me.
The downside is that they look horrible – dark and dungy (see below) –
but as long as you consume furtively behind your computer screen, this is a
very healthy and unusually sophisticated microwave lunch.
www.merchant-gourmet.com
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