Old Favourite Lentil Salad 03.01.2008
In the interests of helping Helen empty her pantry of lentils before she heads to Gay Paree, I provide this not-so-humble lentil salad recipe. I’ve been making this for more than ten years now and it still makes me entirely happy.
Ingredients
For the salad
- 1 cup of lentils (I’m partial to puy lentils because they’re nutty and delicious, but whatevs)
- 2 handfuls of mixed herbs (parsley and mint are the standards), chopped
- 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
- A dozen olives or so, pitted and halved
- 1 red capsicum, deseeded and chopped into smallish bits
- 1 yellow capsicum, deseeded and chopped into smallish bits
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- A few chunks of soft goats' cheese (I like that marinated goats' fetta that comes in a jar)
Dressing
- Olive oil
- Red wine vinegar
- ½ clove of garlic, crushed
- ½ teaspoon of cumin
- Salt and pepper
Method
Mix dressing ingredients in a jar. I've not specified quantites of oil and vinegar because we're all grown-ups here - whatever seems/tastes right. You want something garlicky and well-flavoured with cumin.
Cook the lentils in boiling water for 15-17 minutes, or until edibly bitey. Drain well and set aside to cool.
While the lentils are cooking, prepare all the other ingredients as above, then combine everything except the goats' cheese with the cooked, cooled lentils, and dress. Once dressed, break up the cheese into chunks and chuck it on top. Yum.
File under vegetarian summer salad
Virginia is a software inventor by day and a carnivore by night. She posts links and occasional rants at I Am Alert (but not alarmed) and hearts the GFC. Her favourite celebrity chef is Nigella.