It's Christmas Eve!

Now, imagine me saying that in a voice filled with the excitement of the little kid!  I always love Christmas Eve.  I love going to church, I love the beginning of singing carols in both my current church and the church I grew up attending.  (FYI, Most Episcopal or Catholic Churches do not sing carols until Christmas Eve...I should know since I grew up with the first and now am a member of the latter)

Since currently I am running around the house like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everything together (at least I am predicting this!), I pre-wrote this post for all of you.

I decided that I would post one of my recipes for Christmas Dinner tomorrow.

I am extremely huge fan of Le Puy lentils (I think I have covered this already!), so I ordered myself some to serve on Christmas Day.

I found this recipe and it just sounds delicious!  (I am an guesstimator type of cook, so I do not mind the measurements in grams)

Warm Puy Lentil Salad with Baby Spinach and Goat's Cheese
This salad, with fresh leaves, creamy goat's cheese and fine-textured lentils, makes a substantial lunch, or halve the amounts and serve as a starter.

Preparation time :	10 minutes
Cooking time :	25 minutes
Total time :	35 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

200g pack Romano peppers
225g Waitrose Cooks' Ingredients Le Puy Green Lentils
4 tbsp Carapelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 red onion, sliced
2 tbsp Waitrose Balsamic Vinegar
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp English mustard
225g baby spinach
100g pack Capricorn Somerset Goat's Cheese, roughly chopped

Method

1. Preheat the grill to high. Place the whole peppers on a baking sheet and place under the grill. Cook until the skins are blackened, turning occasionally. To remove the skins easily, place the hot peppers in a clean plastic food bag and seal immediately until cool enough to handle. Remove and peel the skins. Cut off the tops, deseed and cut into bite-sized pieces. (I am skipping this step and using jarred sweet peppers since time is a premium on Christmas!)
2. Cook the lentils according to the pack instructions for about 15-20 minutes, until just tender. Drain, return to the pan and cover to keep warm. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion for 4-5 minutes until softened. Remove from the heat and stir in the peppers.
3. Whisk together the remaining oil, vinegar, lemon juice and mustard and season well. Stir the onion and peppers into the lentils and pour the dressing over.
4. Arrange the spinach between 4 plates, spoon over the lentils and top each serving with a little goat's cheese. Serve immediately.