Have you ever made a lentil salad before?
While I was going through my stash of torn out magazine pages the other day, I came across a recipe for lentil salad from an old Cook’s Illustrated magazine. Isn’t Christopher Kimball cool? I love his no nonsense approach to cooking and his never ending quest to find the best possible kitchen tools. The fact that he will cook something over and over again until it’s totally perfect makes my OCD heart happy. He’s kind of a total rock star in my book.
His recipe for lentil salad sounded interesting, so I gave it a try. And I’m so glad I did.
Here is my slightly adapted version:
Ingredients
1 cup lentils, rinsed
5 cups of water
2 cups chicken broth
6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed to release flavors
1 bay leaf
5 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 cup Kalamatta olives, chopped
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup feta cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
Directions
Place lentils in a medium sized bowl and cover with 3 cups water warm water and 1 teaspoon of salt. Let lentils soak for 1 hour and then drain.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Place drained lentils in a heavy pot or casserole dish with 2 cups chicken broth, 2 cups water, crushed garlic, bay leaf and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cover, and bake for 40 minutes, or until the lentils are tender but not soft.
While the lentils are cooking, place olive oil, vinegar, chopped olives, onion, and mint in large bowl and toss to combine.
Once the lentils have finished cooking, drain them. Remove the bay leaf and garlic and toss lentils with the olive oil dressing mixture. Garnish with feta.
Serves 4 to 6
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Ashley says
I love Christopher Kimball, too. I get so happy when I luck into catching America’s Test Kitchen!
Eileen says
Yay for Palouse Lentils! Have you been to the Lentil Festival in Pullman?
Mavis says
Nope, but I’m going to try and go this year!
Robin says
Try Jan’es (ThyHand) sweet and sour lentils, so good
michelle g-b says
Wait. There are Palouse brand lentils?! I want/need some of those!!!
Shelle says
Thanks for using Palouse Brand lentils! I live on the Palouse and drive by lovely lentil fields (and wheat, barley, pea, and chickpea fields) everyday and I often wonder about the people who eat all the food grown in our little paradise.
If you’ve ever wanted to see something super-awesomely cool, you should come to Pullman, WA for the National Lentil Festival. It’s in August and sports a HUGE 300-gallon pot of lentil chili and lentil recipe contest. (I bet with your creativity, you could totally rock that.) There’s also a Taste T. Lentil 5K (which I traditionally plod through) and a Tour de Lentil 100K bike ride through the rolling hills of the Palouse.
Come on out to the dry side for a weekend, I promise you won’t be disappointed!
Mavis says
I’m putting it on the calendar! 🙂 Awesome, thanks!
Athanasia says
I like the combination of ingredients though I would use lemon juice in place of vinegar. Feta and olives and mint are mainstays in my kitchen.
Suzanne says
I am sure this has been asked before, but is there an easier way to print these recipes than cut and paste? Thanks!
Mavis says
Yes. There is a printer button at the bottom of each post. Click, and print. 🙂
Christine says
Is this 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves? I was not sure and I am making it tonight for dinner.
Mavis says
Yes. 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves. I fixed the post. Thank you for pointing it out.
Christine says
That is what I thought and we made this and it was awesome thank you very much for sharing.
Helen in Meridian says
Did you know that the Palouse Empire area (Moscow, ID) is the pea and lentil capital of the nation, possibly the world. Moscow is the University of Idaho, where lots of us went to school.
Belle Rita Novak says
It took much longer than 40 minutes to make my lentils soft enough to use. Nice salad though. I put in some chopped up orange peppers and used purple onion; makes it very colorful.