Lentil Salad With Curry Spices and Yogurt

Submitted by Aunt Cookie

"This is a delicious, simple, and inexpensive recipe. You can make it even easier by using the vegetables raw, rather than blanching them. I'd bet that regular lentils would work well in this, too."

 

• Ready In: 50mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups French lentils
• 1 bay leaf
• 1⁄2 cup diced red onion
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1⁄2 cup diced carrot
• 1⁄2 cup plain yogurt
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄8 teaspoon cayenne (to taste)
• 1⁄8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1⁄2 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

directions

1. Rinse the lentils and place them in a medium saucepan; cover with water and add the bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer (the original recipe said to boil for 15-20 minutes -- I find it takes longer to cook the lentils).
2. Meanwhile, bring a small pot of water to a boil and drop the onion in for 15 seconds. Scoop out with a strainer and splash with vinegar.
3. Drop in the carrot for 1 minute to blanch.
4. In a small bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 1 tb vinegar, and spices.
5. Drain the lentils when tender; remove the bay leaf and toss all ingredients together. Toss in cilantro before serving.

Reviews

[La Dilettante]

Oui, oui! French lentils are indeed the key. So very tasty!

 

[sugarpea]

Not our cup of tea, I guess, but I couldn't get French lentils, just the ordinary brown ones.

 

[Mrs Goodall]

This was just plain yummy, and very easy. Thanks Aunt Cookie!

 

[justcallmetoni]

This was just delicious and well worth the hunt for French lentils. My first time using this variety, I found that they were much better at retaining their shape when cooked tender than the more common brown variety. For my salad I used nonfat yogurt and doubled up on the carrots and red peppers - for both crunch and color. the blanching is quick and worthwhile. The onions quickly blanched and mixed with the vinegar creates a instant picked onion that has a really pleasant contrast to the curry spices. Go ahead and do it the "right" way.