One pot creamy spinach lentils. #apinchofyum.

These creamy spinach lentils are just the thing to warm up a cold wintery night.
Adulterated from a fabulous food blog called a pinch of yum who says it’s ‘Just celery, carrots, and onions – thyme, cream and spinach – a hearty potato-thickened broth base – and plain brown lentils cooked to perfection”.

You need for 4 to 6 fashionista and 35 models:
2 tablespoons butter or oil
half an onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
½ cup dry white wine
2 cups uncooked lentils, rinsed
2 medium (Yukon) potatoes, chopped (about 1 cup total)
4 cups chicken broth/stock (plan to add a few more cups as needed while cooking)
1 bay leaf
a few sprigs fresh parsley
a few springs fresh lemon thyme
½ cup of a mix of cream and milk.
3-4 cups packed fresh baby spinach
salt and pepper to taste (be generous with the salt!)
olive oil and red wine vinegar for topping.

•    Grab a warm snuggly Isabel Marant sweater.
•    Slip into Chanel cashmere trackies.
•    Pull on Gucci fur lined loafers.
•    Guzzle a wine or five.
•    Ask Bradley Cooper to chop up the carrots, celery, onion and potatoes. The Olympics are over so he can now do something helpful in the kitchen.
•    Heat the butter /and or oil over medium heat.
•    Add the onions, carrots, and celery.
•    Saute for 10 minutes until the vegetables are nice and fragrant.
•    Add the wine slowly – it should give a little sizzle and get all the browned bits off the bottom.
•    Drink your wine slowly, it should give you a little sizzle but won’t remove anything off your bottom (!) #sadlyitwilladdmore.
•    Toss in the lentils, potatoes, and broth.
•    Tie the bay leaf, parsley, and thyme together and toss in the pot (the reason for tying is so you can easily remove them at the end) ( it’s a bit like the handy zip on the back of laceup gladiator sandals, it’s so much easier).  Tip : A pinch of yum says to wrap up in a stalk of celery.
•    Simmer for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally, adding more broth as necessary so the lentils are just barely covered in liquid. A bit like a bikini on Kim Kardashian.
•    When the lentils and potatoes are as soft as Gucci bag, gently mash the potatoes against the side of the pot with the back of the wooden spoon to make the mixture creamy.
•    Remove the tied herbs.
•    Then stir in the milk /cream mix and then the spinach.
•    Give it a good old stir.
•    Season with salt and pepper (season, taste, adjust, repeat).
•    Serve each serving with a drizzle of good olive oil and a splash of red wine vinegar.
•    Accessorise with fresh lemon thyme.
•    Fabulous !

NB: A pinch of YUM says the cooking length for the lentils (and the amount of liquid you need) will partially depend on how old your lentils are. It took about 6-7 cups of broth over about 45 minutes of cooking time. Just play it by ear and do what feels right if it looks like it needs more liquid and more time.