From the Vegicurean's Kitchen: French Lentil Salad with Beetroot and Feta

Instagram: @joicejlau

I'm excited to present the first of many posts I hope to do about my own cooking. While I mostly do dining reviews on this blog, I will share insights from my kitchen and share some great vegetarian recipes which I've found.

Lentils are wonderfully nutritious and I've always known that it's a good idea to get more into my diet, especially as a vegetarian. However, I've only rarely found recipes which make lentils appealing enough to my, admittedly, somewhat snobby taste buds ;-) I was therefore delighted to stumble upon this recipe for a lentil salad with beetroot and feta cheese on the back of a packet of McKenzie's brand French lentils given to me by a friend...

These lentils are, in my opinion, more refined in taste and texture than your average lentil. Combine them with two of my favourite ingredients in the world, and I suddenly have a dish which makes me want to devour almost half a kilo of lentils in one sitting. I don't know why, but beetroot really is one of my weaknesses! Just as an aside: Finland is probably the most beetroot-obsessed country I've ever visited. In Finnish supermarkets, they keep huge tubs of peeled and cooked beetroots in juice, and customers get plastic bags to scoop the beets into. People eat them with their breakfast rye bread and so on. Maybe I should move there!     

Anyway, back on topic! This salad is quite quick and easy to make, nutritious, and delicious - the grand trifecta! Oh and, it's nice to look at too:

And here's the recipe. It's from the back of the pack of lentils as I mentioned, but I've rewritten it a little to make the process more logical and streamlined, and included some minor suggestions of my own. Enjoy!

 

RECIPE

 

Recipe Credit: McKenzie's Foods

Ingredients:

1 cup French Style Lentils
3 cups Water
1 Bay Leaf
1 tin whole Baby Beets, drained and cut in half
1/2 finely sliced Red Onion
1/2 cup chopped Italian Parsley
1/2 cup chopped Coriander Leaves
1 clove minced Garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Seeded Mustard
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1/2 cup crumbled Feta Cheese

Method:

1) Prepare the lentils according to the pack (i.e. wash them and pick out the "bad" ones).

2) In a medium saucepan, bring the lentils, water and bay leaf to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until tender (about 25 mins).

3) Meanwhile, cook the red onions a bit if you prefer (I've found that it tastes better and less "spicy" this way...raw onions can be killer!!).

4) While the lentils (and perhaps onions) are cooking, prepare the dressing: combine the olive oil, lemon juice, seeded mustard, minced garlic and salt and pepper.

5) Halve the beets and put aside in a strainer to drain.

6) When the lentils are ready, strain then toss them with the onions, dressing and beets.

7) Crumble in some feta cheese and the parsley and coriander to serve.

 

Bon appétit! :)
 

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Instagram: @joicejlau