Lentil Salad

This salad is a tasty side dish to any meal. It can be served cold, or at room temperature.

This recipe can be seen as a general guideline. The ingredients and the amounts can be varied according to your taste.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dark lentils
• 2-3 sweet red and/or yellow peppers
• a few cherry tomatoes halved
• a few shpritzes of balsamic vinegar
• a handful of fresh parsley, washed and dried
• a small handful of fresh mint (na’na) washed and dried
• 2 green onions (scallions) chopped
• 1-2 shallots finely chopped
• olive oil to taste (don’t overdo with the olive oil)
• lemon juice to taste
• salt
• pepper

Preparation:

1. Rinse and drain one cup lentils.
2. Put lentils in pot with salted boiling water. Cook for about 20-22 minutes, or until they are cooked (they should be soft, but still a bit “al dente”.
3. Drain the cooked lentils in a strainer, and allow them to dry.
4. Slice a few sweet peppers (red and yellow) and halve a few cherry tomatoes. Put in a baking tin (I put a sheet of baking paper/parchment paper on the pan, and on that I put the veggies), and sprinkle a bit of balsamic vinegar, salt, and a bit of olive oil.
5. Bake-roast the peppers and tomatoes till they are soft and brown around the edges. Remove from oven. Allow to cool.
6. Meanwhile, rinse a handful of fresh parsely and a smaller handful of fresh mint (na’na). Dry well (can use a small lettuce drying gadget to dry the leaves, or dry them between two paper towels).
7. Finely chop the cleaned and dried parsley and mint (na’na). (I sometimes use a small chopper which is like a mini food processor – but you can do it by hand).
8. Slice the green onion (scallion) into small pieces.
9. Finely chop the shallots
10. When the lentils have been strained and are dry, add all the parsley, mint, roasted peppers, green onions and shallots.
11. Add a bit of olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, to taste.
12. Adjust seasonings.
13. Refrigerate till serving time.