1. Combine olive oil and balsamic vinegar together in a bowl, whisk them both well to obtain a viscous emulsion.
2. Season to your taste.

SALAD

1. Rinse the lentils, place them in a medium pot with bay leaves and kombu (if using). Don’t add salt as it will make your lentils tough. If using kombu, be sure to remove it after about 10 minutes as it will eventually become slimy and fall apart and stick to the lentils.
2. Bring the lentils to a simmer. Simmer, on a low heat, for about 20-25 minutes – keep an eye on the lentils towards the end of the cooking time to make sure they do not overcook. Test one to be sure they are done to your liking, drain and set aside to cool.
3. Heat up a griddle pan on a low-medium heat. Brush the peppers with a little oil and place them on the hot pan. Grill for a few minutes on each side until nicely charred, take off the heat and place on a plate covering with a big, upside down, bowl – it will make skin removal easier. If you don’t have a griddle pan you can roast your peppers under an oven grill instead.
4. Toast the walnuts on a dry frying pan, tossing them now and then so that they do not burn. They are ready when lightly charred and fragrant. Set aside to cool and chop roughly.
5. Remove the skins from the peppers, deseed them and slice them diagonally across.
6. Combine cooled lentils, with finely diced onion, most of the parsley and thyme – leave some for decoration. Dress with some of the prepared dressing, adjust seasoning to taste. Scatter on a platter with salad leaves and roasted peppers. Decorate with chunks of feta and roasted walnuts. Drizzle with the remaining dressing and scatter with leftover herbs.

VEGAN FETA (make a day in advance)

1. Place the lemon juice, garlic, plant milk, a good pinch of salt and rinsed almonds in an blender (Ninja blender works well here).
2. Blend until smooth, using a spatula to return the mixture that stays on the walls of your blender back to the centre. The mixture will eventually get really thick and the blender will struggle. I have a little trick to combat this, but please be very careful as it requires you to have the lid off while the blender is running. I slide my spatula flat against the wall of the blender and ever so slightly push the mixture into the centre, which sort of feeds it back into the blades again and prevents an air bubble from forming underneath the surface. I keep on doing that while the mixture is blending, being extra careful that I go nowhere near the blades. This technique allows me to get the mixture super smooth and creamy, but use it at your own discretion.
3. Taste and adjust the amount of salt and lemon juice to taste. Add miso and nutritional yeast at this point if using. Don’t worry if the mixture tastes quite strong at this point, it will mellow out during the next two stages of preparation.
4. Prepare / activate agar in 3 tbsp of water, according to the instructions on the packet. Add the resulting gel to the ‘cheese’ mixture quickly and blend until smooth. Alternatively, if you don’t have agar agar, allow the mixture to drain and then bake it as in this recipe.
5. Transfer your mixture to a cheesecloth-lined container (I used this tofu press for this) and place in the fridge overnight to set.