Recipe is below 👇🏼
1 Cup of Lentils
3 Cups of Water
1 Cinnamon Stick
2 Bay Leaves
Kosher Salt
1 Lemon
1/4 – 1/3 Cup of Olive Oil
1/2 TSP Cinnamon
1/4 Salt
2 Persian Cucumbers
A handful of Cherry tomatoes sliced in half
Handful of Kalamata olives in half.
1/4 cup of chopped parsley
1/8-1/4 cup of chopped mint
1 shallot diced
2 cloves of garlic
2 cups of arugula (chopped)
1/2 fresh jalapeno (optional)
Salt to taste
Combine the lentils, oregano, a pinch or two of kosher salt, bay leaves, and cinnamon stick in a pot and cover with 3 cups of water.
Bring to a boil, then cover, lower the heat, and simmer until the lentils are tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Strain and remove the bay leaves and cinnamon stick.
For the dressing, whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, cinnamon, salt, and pepper.
Combine the lentils with the dressing and chill for 15-20 mins.
Combine the veggies with the lentils, taste and season with more pepper, and mix in the feta.
Hi, Kelly Jones here and my buddy Max who likes to supervise when I cook. I am back and I am in KJ’s kitchen bringing you one of my favorite summer salads. Super fresh, good for you, easy to make, and great for um hosting parties, for your lunch, to bring to a barbecue. I hope you enjoy. Okay, so let’s get to it. So, we’re going to make the lentils first. So, it’s a lentil Mediterranean salad. So, if you don’t like lentils, you can use quinoa, you could use chickpeas, you could do black eyed peas. Um, but lentils are my go-to. You want to make sure that you wash your lentils cuz sometimes there’s little rocks in them or just little remnants. Always wash your dried beans or rice. So you’re going to do a cup of lentils, three cups of water, one cinnamon stick, two bay leaves, and a generous amount of salt. Cook for about 20 25 minutes. So you turn once they boil, cover it, simmer it 20 25 minutes. I’m back. Okay. So, for the dressing, uh, while the lentils are cooking, you’re going to want to do about I did Okay, I like things lemony, so you might want to tone down the lemon if you don’t like too much lemon. I did one lemon, 1/4 cup of olive oil, about a half a teaspoon of cinnamon, and salt. Now, a little bit of salt, maybe a/4 of a teaspoon because your lentils are salted, and if you’re adding calamana olives, those contain salt. You can always add salt. can’t take it away. And then some ground pepper. And I just whisk it. Make it sure it’s all emulsified, all pretty, and let it sit. Then next, the veggies. So, I am doing um I’m doing two cloves of garlic. And I crush it or chop it really mince it up. Uh you can do one, just depends on how much garlic you like. Uh diced shallot, just one. Persian cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, colomata olives fresh from the deli, fresh mint and parsley, and I also add arugula. I just like the um balance of the greens in there. Makes it more hearty. And if I’m wanting a little bit of spice, I add some fresh jalapeno. I love jalapeno. Even though it’s not traditional Mediterranean, I just love a little kick in my dishes. Lentils. Can’t talk. Strain the lentils immediately. This is important. Immediately put it in your mixture of your dressing. So, pour them in. And the reason why you’re doing this is because you want them to absorb all the goodness. Okay? So, stir it up. put in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. All right. Yum. Right. So, I have the lentils that have been chilling in the refrigerator for 20 minutes, soaking up all this goodness. I have my veggies that I’ve chopped up. Little trick, chop your mint up last, um because it turns brown really fast. So, I’m going to pour all the goodness in here. Get that all in. And I’m going to mix it up. And as you see, look at this. Yummy and delicious. I’m going to let this sit a little bit longer. And then after that, I’m going to add my finishing touches, which is some pepper and um some feta cheese. And I just added a half of a jalapeno. So, I didn’t make it too spicy, but I made it just with a little bit of kick. But again, look how delicious this looks. This Casey here, and she’s going to taste this lentil salad and let us know um how she likes it. And she has to be honest. This isn’t staged. I’m always honest with you. the cinnamon cuz of this like sweetness, but then the lentils are earthy. What else is in there? Um, we have calamana olives, we have mint, we have shallots, we have a little bit of jalapeno. It’s like the perfect blend of every single taste. Happiness in your mouth. This is overjoy. Okay. So, summer salad everyone.
Dining and Cooking