Red lentil, coconut milk and sea vegetable spread

Ingredients

1 cup red lentils
2 cups vegetable stock
1 ‘sprig’ dried kombu (about 2″)
1 1/2 cups coconut milk (I use full fat)
1T fresh garlic, minced
1/4t coarse sea salt
2T nutritional yeast
1T nori flakes
2t purple dulse flakes
Coarse sea salt and black pepper to taste

Optional: You can also make this on the stove top or bake in a ceramic dish, but both require more attention. If you want to keep the spread close to white, stir more frequently. If you’d like a fond, don’t stir as much. Sun-dried tomatoes, black olives, capers, and other high flavour ingredients would also make nice additions.

Method

Warm a slowcooker on high. Add everything up to and including the sea salt. Cover and cook on high, stirring periodically, reducing until you have about 2 1/2 cups — expect several hours depending on your slowcooker. When reduced, remove from heat. Remove the kombu. Add the nutritional yeast, nori, and dulse. Stir to combine.

Let stand to cool uncovered about 30 minutes. Season to taste. Spoon out into an appropriate dish, cover loosely and chill 30 minutes. Pour off any condensed water, cover tightly and chill overnight to setup. When ready to serve, adjust the seasoning to taste depending on use and enjoy.