Lentil salad: the dressing goes onto warm lentils
Green lentils are one of the few pulses that stay whole after cooking — red ones collapse into purée and are no use in a salad. But the secret of the flavour is not the variety, it is the moment of seasoning: the dressing must go in while the lentils are still warm. Warm pulses drink oil and vinegar like a sponge; cold ones take them up poorly and the dressing pools at the bottom of the bowl.
Your own work in that: 50 min.
- Lentils 30 min
- Vegetables 12 min
- Tossing 8 min
Step by step
0 / 5 doneCook the lentils unsalted
Rinse the lentils and cover with water, add the bay leaf and half an onion. Simmer uncovered 20–25 minutes over low heat. Salt them only in the last 5 minutes, once they are nearly tender. Do not add vinegar or tomatoes to the water, though: acid toughens the skins and the lentils take ages to soften — which is why the dressing goes on only after draining.
Ingredients: 250 g green lentils · 1000 ml water · 1 pcs bay leaf · ½ pcs onion · 1 tsp salt
TipGreen and black beluga lentils hold their shape. Red and yellow ones collapse into purée — excellent for dhal, useless in a salad.
Unsalted for most of the cookingCheck and drain
They are done when tender but still whole, with a slight resistance to the tooth. Drain in a sieve, discard the bay leaf and onion, but do not rinse with cold water — the lentils must stay warm, because they are about to drink the dressing.
Tender but whole; don't rinseMake the dressing
Whisk the mustard with the vinegar, salt and pepper, add the crushed garlic, then pour in the oil in a thin stream, whisking all the while. The mustard binds oil and vinegar into a smooth emulsion that will not split in the bowl.
Ingredients: 5 tbsp olive oil · 2 tbsp red wine vinegar · 1 tsp Dijon mustard · 1 clove garlic · ½ tsp salt · ½ tsp pepper
Oil in a thin stream into mustard and vinegarDress them warm
Tip the warm lentils into a bowl and pour over all the dressing at once. Toss and leave 10 minutes. This is the whole secret of the salad — warm pulses absorb fat and acid, so they taste seasoned through rather than only on the surface.
TipThe same rule applies to potato salad and to beans. Cold pulses dressed later stay bland inside, even if you add twice as much dressing.
Dressing onto warm lentils, never coldAdd the vegetables and feta
Halve the tomatoes, dice the pepper and onion finely, chop the parsley. Fold them into the cooled lentils and crumble the feta over the top. Season and leave a few minutes more before serving.
Ingredients: 250 g cherry tomatoes · ½ pcs red onion · 1 pcs red bell pepper · 1 bunch parsley · 150 g feta
Feta crumbled on top, not stirred through
Before you start
Four days of lunches
Without the feta and parsley it keeps up to four days in the fridge, and on day two it tastes even better. Add the feta and parsley on the day you eat it — feta softens in the dressing and clouds the whole bowl white.
Warm, as a meal
Served immediately after tossing, still warm, with a poached egg on top, it is a full dinner. French bistros serve a similar warm lentil salad.
How much to cook
250 g of dried lentils gives about 600 g cooked. Count 60 g dry per person as a main, 40 g as a side.
A smoky note
Fried bacon or a teaspoon of smoked paprika in the dressing. Lentils have an earthy flavour that smoke sets off beautifully.
