In many countries lentil salad is a must dish to have at New Year’s celebration. It’s believed to bring good luck and prosperity in the New Year to come.
Lentils are really easy to cook and they absorb flavor wonderfully, making them the perfect base for the salad. I also love how nutritious lentils are. They are full of protein, iron, and fiber. This is a filling salad, but it still feels light thanks to the fresh vegetables, herbs, and lime dressing. The dressing is very simple but adds so much flavour to the salad.
For this recipe I used French lentils but you can use any lentil of your choice.
It is very important to wash the lentils well and soak it overnight allowing them to expand. This will bring all the nutritional value of the lentil alive.
This salad can go with any main dish and it’s super easy to make. I usually cook a big batch of lentils and freeze it so if I want to make the salad I can easily defrost it 🙂
Ingredients:
2 cups of cooked lentils
1 celery stalk with leaves sliced finely
1 Lebanese cucumber diced
1 carrot peeled and grated
8 green olives
1/2 cup of pomegranate
1/2 cup Italian parsley roughly chopped
1/4 cup spring onions sliced finely
Cos lettuce washed
Lime Dressing:
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil or to taste
Juice of 1 lime or to taste
Mineral Salt and black pepper to taste
Method:
Wash and soak lentils overnight. Rinse and cook lentils in filtered water with a couple of bay leaves. Do not overcook lentils. Once al dente, remove from heat, strain and allow lentils to cool down to room temperature. Then placed them in the fridge until you are ready to make the salad.
For the salad combine all other ingredients and lentils, add dressing and serve with either chopped cos lettuce or place lentil salad on individual lettuce leaves and serve it that way 🙂
This is a great salad to take to friend’s house for Christmas or New Year’s dinner.
Enjoy and have a beautiful Christmas and a prosperous New Year:)
Recipe by
Debora Galvin