Gerlinde's Versatile Lentil Salad

Why Do We Cook?

​Why do we cook? We have to eat of course, but we don’t necessarily have to cook to do so. Today, we have many options including eating out at restaurants or bringing prepared food home. One of the questions I often ask people is, “Do you cook?” Many times, the answer is,”not really!” I ask that question because I love to talk about food and cooking. It’s almost an obsession. I ask questions, I snoop around cooking blogs, I go directly to the food section in magazines and so on. I relish food with my senses by smelling it and enjoying the different flavors. I know I’ve come across something special when the flavors explode in my mouth and create a sensation of pure pleasure. That is what happened several weeks ago at my little cabin in the woods.

Pinecrest Lake

My sister-in-law and her family came over for dinner. My husband grilled a beautiful rack of lamb and some small white creamer potatoes on the side. He does this to perfection and everybody loves it. He slices the rack into paired ribs and generously coats them with pepper and garlic salt. He puts them on a gas grill on medium heat and pays attention so they do not burn. He serves them medium rare. Sometimes, depending on the ribs, he trims the excess fat. He precooks his potatoes in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes depending on the number of potatoes. The potatoes go in a bowl with olive oil and garlic salt. You want to have a good coating of olive oil on all the potatoes. Then he puts them on the upper grill and cooks them with the meat until they are soft. He coats the potatoes during the grilling with leftover olive oil. He sits outdoors next to his barbecue, enjoying a scotch, watching his food cook as I busy myself in the kitchen.

On this particular night, I roasted some fresh asparagus coated with walnut oil sprinkled with sea salt in a preheated oven at 375˙degrees for about 8 minutes. The cabin is at a 6000-foot elevation, so the cooking time increases. I made my citrus vinaigrette for my green salad and pulled out my sauces and condiments that everybody loves with the lamb. Mint jelly is a must, however, my mountain fridge had some wonderful treasures—like the cranberry ketchup I made for our Christmas dinner and never used, and my green sauce that I made a couple of days before to go with salmon cakes. This green sauce had more garlic than normal and was mostly yogurt with some chives. We had a great dinner, and the wine and conversation was flowing. Everybody seemed to enjoy the food. I covered my little creamy potatoes and pieces of lamb with the different sauces—and it was divine. Some of the little lentils from my lentil salad were swimming in the sauce–and oh what flavor! Every bite brought more joy. ​

Earlier that day, I made a lentil salad to go along with the feast. I have made lentil salad many times and it never turns out the same. There is a wonderful recipe from Regina Schrambling on the Wednesdaychef blog that I sometimes make. It uses leeks, hazelnuts and duck confit. Most of the time, I just make a simple vinaigrette that I pour over the warm lentils for a delicious salad that I can eat for days to come. This time, I cooked some carrots with my lentils and added some celery and to the finished salad. When I eat the salad by itself I like to add either goat or feta cheese. ​

I used walnut oil in this recipe, but a good olive oil will do. Walnut oil gives the salad a wonderful nutty flavor. Walnut oil is sold in small bottles because it doesn’t last long.

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Ingredients

1 cup French lentils 

3 cups water

3 small sprigs of thyme or 1 tsp. dried thyme

2 cloves garlic

2 bay leaves

1 small carrot (for cooking)

3/4 cup finely diced carrots (to add to the salad)

1 tsp. salt

The dressing

1 TBS Dijon mustard

2 TBS champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar

¼ cup walnut oil or olive oil

¼ cup chopped chives

1 TBS chopped fresh tarragon

1 small shallot (peeled and minced)

Additions to the salad

freshly ground pepper to taste

coarse sea salt to taste 

1 TBS vinegar

1 celery rib (finely diced)

goat or feta cheese

lettuce ​

​Directions

Rinse the lentils and put them with the thyme, garlic, bay leaves, the carrot, water and 1 tsp. salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring often.

 Decrease the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Add the diced carrots and simmer for an additional 3-5 minutes. Do not overcook, as the lentils should still have a light crunch.

While the lentils are cooking, make the dressing. Whisk together the mustard and vinegar in a  bowl. Whisk the oil to emulsify. Add the shallots and fresh tarragon. 


Drain the lentils well, discarding the thyme branches, the garlic, the whole carrot and the bay leaves. Combine the dressing with the warm lentils, mixing well, and let it cool to room temperature. Stir occasionally.  Add  the chives and the celery. Then add additional vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Add goat or feta cheese before you serve the salad. The salad will last in the fridge for several days, but you may have to season the salad again.

Guten Appetit!
Recipe by © sunnycovechef.com