Amanda Laird: Vegetables with kaseri, lentils, olives and tzatziki

Vegetables with kaseri, lentils, olives and tzatziki. Photo / Babiche Martens

Serves 4

1 cup brown lentils, washed and drained
1 small onion, diced
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
1 sprig of thyme
1 Tbs olive oil
80g kaseri or fresh mozzarella or bocconcini, chopped
12 black pitted olives, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 small red peppers
4 small courgettes
1 eggplant
3 Tbs olive oil
250ml Greek yoghurt
1 Lebanese cucumber or a small telegraph
1 clove of garlic crushed with 1 tsp salt
¼ cup finely chopped fresh mint

1 Put the lentils, onion, garlic, bay leaves and thyme in a saucepan and cover with water. Put the lid on and bring to a simmer then cook for 20 minutes. Test that the lentils are tender before draining and discarding the bay and thyme.

2 Preheat the oven to 200C. Put the lentils in a bowl and stir through the kaseri cheese or mozzarella, and the olives then season.

3 Using a sharp paring knife, slice the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds. Halve the courgettes and scoop out the centres. Halve the eggplant then slice into eighths, remove the seeds to create an area for stuffing.

4 Prepare an oven dish by brushing it with olive oil. Spoon the lentils and cheese into the vegetables then pack tightly into the oven dish and bake for 40 minutes.

5 Serve the vegetables with tzatziki made by combining yoghurt with the finely chopped cucumber, garlic and the fresh mint.