Hello beautiful friends! I have a delicious fakes recipe for you to try out this weekend. I have an updated fakes recipe here! We tested fakes a million times and we found this one being the best.

Aromatic Fakes Recipe

A delicious aromatic fakes filled with so much flavor! Make sure you read the notes carefully!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (16 oz) of green lentils (see notes)
• 2 cups of diced tomato can
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 4 cups water (see notes)
• 4 cups of vegetable stock (see notes)
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 2 stalks of rosemary, reserve flowers, and finely chop
•  3 teaspoons of fresh oregano, chopped
• 5 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil divided
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 large white onion, finely chopped
• 1 leek, finely chopped
• 3 large celery stalks, diced
• 3 large carrots (you can use rainbow or any carrot variety), diced
• 3 teaspoons of finely ground sea salt
• Freshly ground pepper

Serve:

• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 lemon, reserve juice
• 2 teaspoons balsamic or rice vinegar

Directions:

1. In a large pot boil the lentils for about 10 minutes. This process will help clean the lentils and cook them.  Once you boil them, remove them from the heat and strain the liquid. Set aside.
2. In a large pot, add 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil. Then add the bay leaf, garlic, onion, leek, celery, and carrots. Saute for about 10 minutes until they are a little bit soft. Add the lentils and stir to combine over medium heat. Pour in the wine, water, and vegetable stock. Mix to combine and then cook over medium heat for approximately 20 minutes. .
3. Add the rosemary, oregano, parsley, salt, and pepper. Add the rest of the extra virgin olive oil. Mix to combine and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Check to see if the lentils are properly cooked all the way. If they need to cook more, that is fine
4. Remove from heat, and remove the bay leaf.
5. If you are serving now, add in the vinegar or lemon juice.
6. You can enjoy it with crumbled feta or even vegan cheese if you like. We highly recommend our rosemary garlic croutons too!

Notes:

• You can use any lentils you like but we do love green & Puy lentils.
• Boiling the lentils first helps clean them and it cuts your cooking time in half.
• If you need to replace the olive oil then you can use the following oils: avocado, canola, sunflower, coconut. Just note that these oils might give a different flavor result.
• If you do not want to use vegetable stock you can use water or both.
• If you don’t want to use wine then replace it with balsamic or rice vinegar.

If you want to add more flavor to your lentils then follow this recipe below for my easy-to-make rosemary garlic croutons. 

Rosemary Garlic Croutons Recipe

I used my days-old lagana bread and this came out perfect! The sesame from the bread added a lovely touch too. 

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf of bread, cut the bread into 3/4 inch cubes
• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil ( see notes for oil replacement)
• 2 stalks of rosemary, reserve the flowers, and finely chop
• 1 large clove of garlic, minced
• Sea salt & pepper to taste

Method:

Cut your bread into 3/4 inch cubes and place in a large bowl. Prepare the rosemary and garlic. Add both to the bowl. Drizzle olive oil over the mix. Combine with your hands making sure the cubes are coated.  Season with salt and pepper.

On a large baking sheet with parchment paper, spread the bread cubes in an even layer and bake in the middle rack of the oven at 375 degrees. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the bread cubes are golden in color. Remove from the heat and serve. You can additionally place these in a ziplock bag and freeze them.

Notes:

Good olive oil replacements:

Avocado oil, canola oil, coconut oil, and sunflower oil.

You can replace rosemary with any of your favorite herbs. You can also leave out the herbs if you wish.