Hello again my friends,
I just love lentils, not for their taste alone but for the wealth of nutrition value they represent. Lentils are full of fiber, they’re loaded with protein, iron, and vitamin B; they’re inexpensive and make a great meat substitute or side dish. Today, I made this lentil salad which is a family favorite. Hope you’ll try it and let me know what you think.
Ingredients:
I used small lentils for this recipe, however if you only have brown lentils I think they would work as well. Brown lentils tend to cook faster but I prefer the small lentils myself.
1 C small lentils
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 cup finely chopped fresh mint
2 cups finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tomatoes, petite diced
1 red pepper, petite diced
1 yellow pepper, petite diced
1 green pepper, petite diced
1 bunch of green onions, finally chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Juice of 2 fresh-squeezed lemons.
Zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
A dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Method:
Clean lentils and rinse well under running cold water. Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a casserole, add the lentils and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until they’re tender. Drain the excess liquid and set aside.
Dice the peppers, tomatoes, onions and add the fresh chopped mint & parsley to the lentils.
Mix the minced garlic, olive oil, cumin, black pepper, cayenne pepper, salt, lemon zest & oregano in a separate bowl. Add this dressing to the lentils and fold gently so all the lentil pieces are well coated.
Plate the salad and decorate it with fresh mint. You can serve it as a side dish and keep the leftovers in the fridge no longer than 2 days.
P.S: This is a very forgiving salad that you can adjust to your liking, you can omit any of the ingredients that you don’t like here and replace them maybe with chopped celery, carrots….
Enjoy the fresh taste of spring/summer and Bon Appetit.
Mira
This is an amazing and delicious salad! Thank you Majda
mabulhosn@hotmail.com
You welcome Mira, hope you’ll enjoy making it!