French Lentil Salad !!

I discovered French lentils in Paris, no big surprise I guess. I had no idea they were that different from other lentils I have know. They seem to be quite popular in Paris, all sorts of  lentils in fact. I had them as side dishes several times and once as a salad. It is the salad made with these special French lentils that I want to try and recreate.

I went to the bulk section of my local market and found them, French lentils. They are tiny and green. Before you cook them for any recipe, you must sort out any small rocks or other bits that are not lentils.

They cook very quickly, which is a nice feature. I was quite pleased with my first try and will definitely keep making them. Here is what I did and what I would do differently next time.

French Lentil Salad

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup uncooked French lentils
1 bay leaf
2-3 springs fresh thyme
water to cover for cooking

juice of one lemon
I teaspoon Dijon mustard
one clove grated garlic
two small sprigs of thyme, chopped ( or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup feta cheese in cubes or crumbles
3-4 radishes
2 cups baby greens or lettuce
1-2 tsp olive oil to drizzle
a few grounds of fresh pepper (optional)

1) As mentioned above you should sort the lentils then rinse them.

2) Place them in a large saucepan with plenty of water to cover them plus a couple of inches.

3) Bring to a boil, then allow to simmer for 25-30 minutes. All the recipes I read stressed NOT to over cook them. So check them after 20 minutes, they should be easy to bite, not too tough but still a bit "al dente".

4) While the lentils are cooking make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl add the juice of one lemon, a clove of grated garlic, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and the chopped fresh thyme.
Mix together.

I took this photo before I added the thyme, oops.

 5) Slowly whisk in the 1/2 cup of olive oil.

6) Once the lentils are cooked, drain them well and add vinaigrette. Mix it in gently.
     At this point you can serve them warm or chill them for later use.

7) When you are ready to serve, thinly slice the radishes, chop or crumble the feta and wash and dry your greens.

8) To plate, I originally made a bed of butter lettuce, which you will see in the photos. It turned out to be hard to serve and eat that way. In the future, I will make a lovely mound of lentils in the middle of the serving plate and surround it with baby greens, the feta cheese and the radishes. Drizzle the greens with olive oil, lightly dust with fresh pepper.

Quinoa salad, easy picnic fare.

The first time I had this salad was at a picnic with some friends at a goat farm. After touring the farm, we tasted lots of goat cheese, the goat feta was used in this salad.

Quinoa has a slightly nutty flavor and crunchy texture much like cracked bulgar wheat often used in tabouli, in fact this recipe reminds me of the quinoa tabouli salad I posted about last summer.

This salad takes advantage of fresh summer vegetables like cucumber, tomatoes and corn, the walnuts give it an added dimension. It is a very forgiving recipe, feel free to change the vegetable or add more or less depending upon what you have on hand.
It has become a staple in our fridge, perfect for a quick lunch.

Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

2 cups cooked quinoa

1 cup fresh corn or garbanzo beans

1 cup chopped cucumber skinned and seeded 

1 cup chopped tomatoes or cherry tomatoes halved 

3/4 cup toasted walnuts

1/2 cup crumbled feta

1/3 cup chopped pitted Kalamata Olives

1/3 cup chopped cilantro (more or less to taste)

Dressing

3 tablespoon walnut oil

3 tablespoon lemon juice

1 t. dried oregano leave

1/2 t. ground cumin

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. ground pepper

1) Start with the cooked quinoa in a large bowl.

2) Toast the walnuts.

3) Chop the tomatoes, olives, cilantro...

4) Peel, chop and seed the cucumber. As you can see I didn't try to get out all the seeds.

5) Remove the corn from the cob.

6) Chop or crumble the feta cheese.

7) Toss all those ingredient together in the bowl and mix gently.

8) In a small bowl mix together the walnut oil, lemon juice, herbs, salt and pepper.

9) Mix into the salad and serve immediately or allow to chill. 

    This salad can last a week in the fridge.