Ensalada de Lentejas

• Tweet
• Pin It

This recipe is for a Ensalada de Lentejas (lentil green salad), and it is based on a dish I recently enjoyed in Torrettes sur Loup, France; a tiny medieval village on a high cliff with faraway views of the Mediterranean sea.  There I enjoyed this incredible tiny restaurant named “Le Cave de Torrettes”.  What a chef; what a lovely staff.  Go there.

Mexico is big on lentils, so I had an immediate interest in tasting their lentil recipe for green salad; it turned out to be amazing.  I have published two other lentil recipes, both soups so learning how to use lentils in a salad is new for me.  Here are my two previous lentil recipes. Lentejas Con Rajas.   Sopa de Lentejas.  See the latter for my comments on the historical influence of the French in Mexico.

In this recipe I will use “lentilles du Puy”, the peppery French green lentils from the Auvergne, which are called ‘the caviar of lentils’.   These lentils have less starch than other green lentils and are especially good in salads.  These hold their shape well, but take longer to cook than other lentils.  I do not not have the vinaigrette recipe from Torrettes so I created a lime cilantro vinaigrette for my salad.   Let’s get started.

 

 

Ingredients

  Serves 5

4 oz French green lentils ( lentilles du Puy )

3 medium carrots (6 oz), peeled and cut in smaller lengths

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs of parsley, thyme or other herb

¼ medium onion

5 cups greens

Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons lime juice

zest of 1/2 lime

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon cilantro finely minced

salt and pepper

 

 

 

 

Preparation

Remove foreign matter from the lentils and rinse.  In a sauce pan, add water over the lentils to cover them with 4 inches of water.  Add the bay leaf and parsley and a little salt.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes uncovered, then add the carrots and cook 10 minutes more until the lentils are just tender, adding water if necessary.  Do not over cook.  When done, remove the bay leaf, onion and parsley then drain the lentils and carrots well.

In a large bowl, add ½ of the vinaigrette then toss the lentil and carrots. Taste and season with salt and pepper and drizzle extra olive oil.  Spread one tablespoon of lentil on a salad plate, then top with greens and several pieces of carrot.  Scatter another tablespoon of lentils over the greens and carrots,  drizzle the remaining vinaigrette over the greens and drizzle more olive oil.  Serve with a crusty bread.

 

Buen provecho

Subscribe to email notifications for new posts HERE.  And I look forward to your comments below.

• Tweet
• Pin It