Brown Lentil Salad Recipes

MEDITERRANEAN POWER LENTIL SALAD

Steps:

• Cook the lentils. In a saucepan, combine lentils with 3 cups of water and pinch of kosher salt. Bring to a boil. Cover, and lower heat to medium-low. Let simmer until the lentils are fully tender (anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes depending on the kind of lentils used). Be sure to check and add water if lentils seem too dry during the cooking process (they should absorb a lot of the water. Drain and set aside to cool.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine cooked lentils with chopped onions, cucumbers, baby spinach, parsley, and pomegranate seeds (arils.) Give everything a gentle toss.
• Make the dressing. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the lime dressing ingredients. Pour the dressing over the lentil salad and toss to combine. Add a sprinkle of feta cheese to finish.
• Allow a few minutes for the flavors to meld before serving.

LENTIL SALAD

Steps:

• Combine the lentils in a saucepan with 3 cups of water (or veggie broth) and stir to combine. Cook over medium-high heat until the broth reaches a simmer. Then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and maintain the simmer until the lentils are tender, about 20-25 minutes depending on the type of lentils used. Use a strainer to drain and rinse the lentils in cold water for 1 minute until they are chilled, and set aside.
• Meanwhile, as the lentils are cooking, combine all of the lemon dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together until combined.
• Add the cooked and chilled lentils, cucumber, red onion, mint and sun-dried tomatoes to a large bowl. Drizzle evenly with the lemon dressing and toss until evenly combined.
• Enjoy immediately, or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 3-4 days.

DELICIOUS GREEK LENTIL SALAD RECIPE WITH FETA CHEESE (FAKES SALATA)

Steps:

• To prepare this Greek style lentil salad recipe with feta cheese, start by cooking the lentils. Place the lentils in a colander and rinse them thoroughly under running water. Drain and place them in a large pot. Cover the lentils with a 5-6cm of cold water, season with salt, add the bay leaf and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for about 20-25 minutes. For this Greek lentil feta salad recipe the lentils should be cooked, but still retain a slight tooth. Keep in mind that different varieties of lentils cook at different times, so have a taste after 15 minutes and be careful not to overcook them!
• In the meantime prepare the vegetables. For this Greek feta lentil salad recipe, you could use the peppers raw, cut into little cubes or roasted. Roasting the peppers, until slightly soft, will give extra flavour. To roast the peppers, cut them in half crosswise and place on a baking tray, lined with parchment pepper. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt. Bake in preheated oven at 200-220C for about 20 minutes, or until softened.
• To prepare the dressing for this Greek lentil salad recipe, add all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
• When the lentils are cooked, drain them in a colander and place under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Once cooled slightly place lentils in a large serving bowl and toss with dressing. Add the chopped onion, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, olives and roasted peppers (sliced) and blend. Wait to add the fresh herbs just before serving. Enjoy!

LENTIL SALAD

Steps:

• Pick over the lentils, rinse, and drain. Place the lentils along with the onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt, and pork into a 6-quart saucepan and cover with water by 2 to 3 inches. Place over high heat and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the lentils are tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Drain any remaining liquid and discard the onion, garlic, bay leaf, and salt pork. Stir in black pepper and taste for salt. Set aside.
• Combine the vinegar, olive oil, mustard, salt, pepper, parsley, and thyme in a large mixing bowl. Add the warm lentils and bacon and stir to combine. Serve warm or at room temperature.

MARINATED LENTIL SALAD

Steps:

• Cook the lentils according to the package directions. For most brown lentils, bring 3 cups of water to boil in a pot, add the lentils, then continue to boil for 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Drain the lentils in a colander and rinse briefly with cool water until they are cooled.
• While the lentils are cooking, prepare the lemon garlic dressing. Use a microplane, zester, or small-holed cheese grater to remove about 1 Tbsp of the lemon's zest (the thin, yellow, outer layer of the peel). Set the zest aside. Juice the lemon and measure 1/4 cup of the juice to use for the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic, oregano, salt, and some freshly cracked pepper. Set the dressing aside.
• Rinse the parsley well, shake off as much water as possible, then pull the leaves from the stems. Roughly chop the parsley leaves. Cut the grape tomatoes in half. Finely dice the red onion.
• When the lentils are cooked, cooled, and well drained, transfer them to a large bowl. Add the chopped parsley, tomatoes, red onion, crumbled feta, lemon zest, and the prepared dressing. Stir to combine the ingredients and coat everything in dressing.
• Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to eat. Always stir the salad just before serving to redistribute the dressing and flavors.

BROWN RICE LENTIL SALAD

Steps:

• In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the rice, water and bouillon to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until rice is tender. Cool., In a large bowl, combine the rice, lentils, tomato, onions and parsley. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Pour over rice mixture; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

BROWN BUTTER LENTIL AND SWEET POTATO SALAD

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 375 degrees and set a rack in the center.
• Prepare the sweet potatoes: On a baking sheet, toss the sweet potatoes with the olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Spread into an even layer and roast, stirring occasionally, until golden and tender, 15 to 25 minutes.
• While the sweet potatoes cook, prepare the lentils: Add the lentils to a medium pot and cover with about 6 cups water. Salt the water generously and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook the lentils until just tender, 15 to 25 minutes. Drain the lentils then return them to the pot. Cover to keep warm.
• Prepare the vinaigrette: Add the sage to a small bowl. Melt the butter in a small skillet set over medium heat. (Use a pan with a light interior so you can easily see the milk solids change color.) Cook the butter a few minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping the milk solids off the bottom and sides of the pan as needed, until the milk solids turn golden brown and smell toasty.
• Pour the hot browned butter and all of the toasty bits over the sage; it will crackle and foam a bit. Let the mixture sit for 1 minute to let the foam subside, then whisk in the olive oil, followed by the red wine vinegar and maple syrup. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Add the cooked sweet potatoes to the pot with the warm lentils. Pour the dressing over the top and stir gently to combine. Add the parsley, season with more salt and pepper, if desired, and toss to combine.
• Transfer the mixture to a serving dish and sprinkle with goat cheese, if using. Serve warm.

VEGAN LENTIL SALAD WITH BROWN RICE.

Steps:

• Place the brown Basmati rice in a pot with 1 3/4 cups water and 2 teaspoons olive oil. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover the pan with the lid tilted, and cook for 40 minutes or until rice is light and fluffy.
• While the rice cooks, cook the lentils. Place the rinsed lentils in a pot with enough water to cover by one inch. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover with the lid tilted to release steam. Cook for about 30 minutes, until the lentils are tender.
• Once the lentils are done, drain off any liquid and place them on a plate to cool. Place the rice on a plate to cool as well. (Putting the lentils and rice in a flat layer allows them to cool more quickly).
• Put the cooled lentils and rice in a large bowl. Add the carrots, cilantro, cherry tomatoes, onion, and pumpkin seeds (if using).
• Place the dressing ingredients in a jar, and shake well.
• Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. If you aren't serving it right away, store the salad and the dressing separately in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
• Add more salt and pepper if desired. Enjoy!

BROWN LENTIL SALAD

Steps:

• Rinse and drain lentils. Place in medium heavy saucepan and add onion halves (with cloves), bay leaf, and enough water to cover by an inch. Bring to the boil, reduce to barely a simmer, cover and cook 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper, and a little more water if none is visible when you tilt the pan, and cook another 1020 minutes until lentils are creamy inside but still intact. Drain and remove onions and bay leaf. Let cool.
• Mix lentils in a bowl with fennel, radishes, green pepper, carrot, onion and garlic. Make vinaigrette by whisking together vinegar and mustard in small bowl, then gradually drizzling in olive oil while whisking until an emulsion is formed. Pour vinaigrette over lentils and vegetables, add oregano, and stir well. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve at room temperature.

LENTIL SALAD

Steps:

• Whisk the vinegar, olive oil, mustard, salt, pepper, parsley and thyme together in a large mixing bowl. Add the warm lentils and bacon and stir to combine. Serve warm or at room temperature.;
• Pick over the lentils, rinse and drain. Place the lentils along with the onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt and pork into a large 6-quart saucepan and cover with water by 2 to 3 inches. Place over high heat and bring just to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the lentils are tender, approximately 25 to 30 minutes. Drain any remaining liquid and discard the onion, garlic, bay leaf and salt pork. Stir in black pepper and taste for salt. Serve immediately.
• Note from Alton: Those of you who watched this program on the 17th or 18th will want to disregard one particular suggestion I made regarding lentils: don't feed the left over onions to your dog. It turns out onions are not good for dogs in any shape or form. I'm grateful to the fans who emailed me after the airing for setting me straight on this nutritional peculiarity. As for my own dog's ability to digest onions, well...she's more hog than dog I guess.
• Cook smart,
• Alton