Lentil, Feta and Herb Salad
Puy lentils dressed while warm so they absorb the vinaigrette, with a large quantity of herbs treated as a salad leaf.
Nutrition Info (per serving)
- 460
- Calories
- 22g
- Protein
- 24g
- Fat
- 40g
- Carbs
Ingredients
- 250 g Puy or beluga lentils
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 garlic clove, for the pan
- 200 g feta
- Large bunch parsley
- Large bunch mint
- 1 small red onion
- 200 g cherry tomatoes
- 1 cucumber
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 lemons
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp honey
- Salt and black pepper
Instructions
- 1Rinse the lentils and put them in a pan with the bay leaf, the whole garlic clove and plenty of cold water. Do not salt the water — salt added at the start toughens the skins and they stay firm no matter how long you cook them.
- 2Bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until tender with a slight bite. Puy and beluga lentils hold their shape; red or split lentils will collapse into purée and are the wrong choice here.
- 3Drain well and discard the bay leaf and garlic.
- 4Make the dressing while the lentils cook: whisk the olive oil, the juice of 1.5 lemons, the mustard, honey, a good pinch of salt and plenty of pepper.
- 5Pour two-thirds of the dressing over the lentils while they are still hot and stir. Warm lentils absorb dressing; cold ones sit in it. This single step is most of the flavour.
- 6Finely slice the red onion and rinse it under cold water for a few seconds to take off the harsh edge, then pat dry.
- 7Halve the tomatoes, dice the cucumber and roughly chop both bunches of herbs, stalks included.
- 8Once the lentils have cooled to room temperature, fold in the onion, tomatoes, cucumber and herbs.
- 9Crumble over the feta, add the remaining dressing and the last of the lemon juice, and season.
A lentil salad is either excellent or extremely dull, and the gap comes down to two decisions.
Dress them warm
This is the one that matters. Hot lentils are porous and actively absorbing; as they cool they close up and stop taking anything in.
Dress them straight out of the colander and the vinaigrette goes into each lentil. Dress them cold and it coats the outside, which is why so many lentil salads taste of plain lentils with oil on them.
The same principle applies to warm potatoes, warm pasta and warm grains.
Use the right lentil
Puy lentils — small, dark, slate-green — and beluga lentils hold their shape through cooking because of their skin structure and lower starch content.
Red and yellow split lentils have had the skins removed and will disintegrate into purée within fifteen minutes. They are excellent in dal and useless in a salad.
Standard brown lentils are a workable middle ground, though they go softer.
Do not salt the cooking water
Salt slows the hydration of the pectin in lentil skins, so lentils cooked in salted water stay firm and can take twice as long to soften.
Season after draining, in the dressing, where it does its job without the side effect. The bay leaf and whole garlic clove in the pan add flavour without the same problem.
Herbs as a vegetable
Two full bunches of parsley and mint sounds excessive and is deliberate. Here they are a salad leaf, not a garnish, and they provide most of the freshness that stops the dish being heavy.
Chop the stalks in too. Parsley stalks in particular carry more flavour than the leaves and are perfectly tender when finely chopped.
Nutrition
Around 460 calories a serving with 22 grams of protein and around 12 grams of fibre. Lentils are among the best plant sources of iron and folate, and the lemon juice here is not just for flavour — vitamin C substantially increases the absorption of non-heme iron.
It keeps for four days and is genuinely better on day two, once the herbs have relaxed into the dressing. Add the feta fresh each time if you are making it ahead.
Comments
Sign in to leave a comment
No comments yet — be the first