Not just another lentil salad….this is Can’t-Stop-Eating-It delish. Made with green lentils, feta, tomatoes, cucumber and drizzled with a beautiful lemon salad dressing. Cooking the lentils in a simple flavoured broth rather than just water or marinating canned lentils in the dressing makes all the difference – you will be amazed!
“OMG! That Lentil Salad!”, my friend exclaimed as we stood shivering in the cold, fully covered head to toe in waterproof gear, throwing toys into the water for our dogs. Prancing out of the way of the spray of ice cold water when they shook right next to us (where else would they do it?), yelling at them if they dared to leap up and touch us.
I realise it’s completely ironic to be talking about a lentil salad when I’m describing a freezing cold winter day at the dog beach, but I think that’s a testament as to how good this salad is – that my friend got so excited about it even though we’re in the height of winter and it should be all about soups and stews.
I really hate blowing my own horn, but truly, I promise, this is not just another lentil salad. And there’s just one little thing I do differently that makes all the difference – cook the lentils in flavoured liquid. 🙂 Nothing fancy here, just adding some vegetable or chicken broth, some fresh or dried herbs, garlic, lemon zest (the juice is used for the dressing) and some floppy celery I found in the fridge.
Try it. You will be amazed. You can eat it plain. Seriously!
I made this recipe with dried lentils which is my preferred way because it soaks up all the flavour while cooking. But I’ve also included directions for how to make canned lentils extra tasty – just warm them up then drizzle with a bit of dressing, leave to soak up the flavour. Works a treat!
I was actually contemplating making this recipe just about how to make the tasty lentils, rather than a salad recipe. But at the last minute, I couldn’t resist all that bright colour and the overall deliciousness of a lentil salad that will wipe away any bad memories you may have of tasteless, soggy lentil salads!
So while I have provided the recipe for this whole salad, I’ve also added notes for other ways to use the flavoured lentils as a side and warm salads.
As for the name? Well, it came about after a lengthy, serious discussion that went something like this (still on that freezing cold winter day at the dog beach):
Me: What should I call it?? Lentil Salad just sounds so meh. Think I can get away with calling it a SEXY Lentil Salad?
My friend: Yes!
And thus the name was born. 😉
Enjoy! – Nagi xx
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Sexy Lentil Salad
Ingredients
Lentils:
- 1 cup / 200g dried green lentils (or other lentils) (Note 1 for canned)
- 1 cup / 200g vegetable or chicken broth (or water + 1 bouillon cube, crumbled)
- 1 1/2 cups / 375 ml water
- 1 large garlic clove , smashed (Note 2)
- Lemon peel (about 1.5 x 5 cm / 3/4 x 2")
- 1 bay leaf , dry or fresh
- 2 sprigs thyme , or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 rib celery , broken into 3 or 4 pieces (or just a handful of leafy fronds)
Salad:
- 250 g / 8oz cherry tomatoes , halved or quartered (Note 3)
- 2 cucumbers , cut into quarters then diced
- 1 red onion , finely diced
- ¼ cup coriander / cilantro , finely chopped
- ¼ cup parsley , finely chopped
- 90 g / 3 oz feta , crumbled (or more!)
- 2 handfuls rocket / arugula lettuce (optional - bed for salad)
Lemon Dressing:
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/3 cup / 85 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1 tsp sugar, optional
- ½ tsp salt + black pepper
Instructions
- Place Lentil ingredients in a large saucepan over high heat. Bring to simmer then turn down to medium low. Cook for 20 minutes for firm (I like this) or 25 minutes for soft. DO NOT overcook and make it mushy!
- Drain in a colander, pick out celery etc. Rinse VERY quickly just to remove any grit coating the lentils (don't want to rinse away flavour!). Set aside.
- Place Dressing ingredients in a jar, shake well.
- Place lentils, tomato, cucumber, onion, coriander, parsley and some of the feta in a large bowl. Pour over most of the Dressing, then toss.
- Place rocket lettuce on a serving platter. Pile salad on top. Drizzle over remaining Dressing and crumble over feta. Serve! (I like serving with pita bread to stuff it in)
Recipe Notes:
a) Warm side with more stuff: Start by sautéing crushed garlic, finely chopped onion, carrot and celery with oil in a saucepan, then add Lentil ingredients per recipe (skip the garlic and celery) and cook. Drain then serve warm as a terrific side.
b) Warm meal: Follow a) then return to pot, stir through handfuls of baby or chopped spinach, top with fried runny yolk egg and burrata/yoghurt (something wet or salty), drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with paprika and squeeze of lemon.
c) Make a warm salad by adding roasted pumpkin or sweet potato.
d) Make a thin omelette and put spoonfuls of this inside with other stuff like feta/cheese/tomatoes, roll up or fold omelette. 6. Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings.
Nutrition Information:
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Sexy Lentil Salad recipe video!
LIFE OF DOZER
The amount of water his fur holds is outrageous. PS It was 8C / 45F on the day I took this.
This salad and dressing is so dreamy and addictive. I just heated up a tin of green lentils, marinated them in this dressing, and served it over some quinoa for lunch and it was so good. I couldn’t stop myself from just eating spoonfuls of the warm dressed lentils while waiting for my quinoa to finish.
So delicious! I used French style (puy) lentils and served in pita pockets and it was amazing. Would be so yummy with BBQ meat!
Oh, I also weighed the lemon zest so for anyone crazy like me – 5 grams max – so 2.5 grams per teaspoon
Hi Nagi, I love love All your recipes and have your book (waiting eagerly for next book 😋). How long can you keep the dressing ?
It’s right in the notes:
4. STORAGE: A rare gem that truly keeps well for 2 days. Keep rocket lettuce separate because the Dressing will make it soggy. The less Dressing on the Lentil Salad = keeps better. It would keep for longer except I never keep raw garlic longer than 48 hours for safety reasons (can cause nasty food poisoning).
I love this salad.
Hi Naji if im looking for a particular recipe its you I turn to always big thanks. Can I have the lentils precooked in the fridge for 2-3 days and make the salad fresh each day with the precooked lentils? I use to hate lentils when i was much younger now I love them! thanks so much :))
Love this! made it with bell pepper instead of cucumber since that was what I had on hand and yes, it IS a sexy lentil salad. I had my doubts, but it is likely the best i’ve ever had and will be the only recipe for me. Thanks!
My husband LOVES lentils (me, not so much) and keeps encouraging me to make them. I found this recipe and – wow! – is it a winner for both of us! Making it as a half recipe to try it was the only change. This is definitely a keeper, I think I might like lentils after all 🙂 Thanks, Nagi, for sharing your excellent recipes!
Delicious salad! An easy do-ahead salad, I just added the dressing just before serving.
How can I adapt this to make it healthier
Hi Mikele! What are you looking to cut down on?? 🙂 N x
I really enjoyed making this salad it’s so healthy and looks a lot nicer than your average toss salad thanks again
Delicious ! So fresh!
I switched arugula with baby spinach.
I will make it again ! Thank you
That sounds delicious Agathe!! N x
I made this salad for a bbq get together with friends. It was easy to make and a hit as the only side dish. Everyone loved it and asked for the recipe. As always, your recipes are the best!
Hi Nagi! Hope your book is faring well! Quick question.
I can’t use mustard due to seed allergies in the family so if I substitute it with worchestershire sauce ( sexy lentil salad recipe) how do i adjust the ratio?
Thank you!
You can sub a tiny bit of mayo to help emulsify it. N x
Absolutely delicious! I liked it in corn tortillas with lime juice or scooped up into red pepper ‘boats’ or with a fork. For personal preference I halved the amount of oil but I could still feel it had a prominent amount of it present (just a mere side note for those who don’t like the feel of oil on their lips after, is all). I’ll be perusing the website for other gs like this. It was SO GOOD!
Omg .. This lentil salad is super tasty I will be making this many more times to come. Thank you
Omg .. This lentil salad is super tasty I will be making this many more times to come. Thank you
This is my second time making a salad. It is very forgiving if you don’t have the exact ingredients on hand. I didn’t have red onions, so I soaked white onions in vinegar and sugar, used regular tomatoes and for the arugula I used leftover garden salad. Was so fantastic!
For the salad I didn’t have tomatoes, feta, red onion, or arugula. But I had everything else and it is absolutely fantastic as is.
So tasty and definitely would make it again … and again…
Just made this for lunch and it was absolutely delicious! Can’t believe I’ve gone so long without trying a lentil salad but so glad this turned out so good on my first try. Thank you for this recipe!