Cold lentil salad

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How are you? Welcome everyone to Paulina Cocina ! Today's recipe is a Lentil Salad. Perfect for any time in life when we feel like eating something healthy, delicious, and quick.

It's a beautiful salad that perfectly combines many raw vegetables, a special vinaigrette, and lentils —making this a spectacular dish.

First of all, let's review a little bit how to cook lentils and prevent them from overcooking , what's the point of making a lentil salad, and what vegetables they go best with.

Let's go with that!

About lentils: A wide and varied world

Lens esculenta is its scientific name. Right now, many of you might have an image of a small, brown grain , but what if I told you that this is the vaguest image you could have of lentils? And that there are at least five varieties of lentils in three different colors that can be classified into two large groups. Do you believe me? Let's talk a little about these:

What types of lentils are there?

– Pardina lentil: This is the most common, small brown, and its most important characteristic is that it doesn't fall apart when cooked, making it a favorite among many.
– Rubia Castellana: Also known as the queen lentil. It has a light green color and is considered the largest in relation to its size compared to the others. Its grain is wide, round, and flattened.
– Verdina lentil: Known for being one of the smallest and green in color.
– Beluga lentil: It is small, black, and has a very distinctive flavor, perfect for making salads and soups.
– Puy lentil: Another lentil valued for its ability to withstand long cooking times while maintaining its original size. It is used in high-end restaurants and is very famous in Europe.

Historical fact: Lentils have been proven to be one of the oldest foods cultivated by humans, dating back almost 9,000 years.

Uses of lentils in the kitchen

, let's get down to business. Besides being the base of our lentil salad, this legume can be a fundamental part of great dishes in the kitchen, like the classic lentil stew , a must-have during fall/winter. You have to respect certain soaking and cooking times; it does the rest of the magic on its own.

Soaking should be done in plenty of cold water for 8 to 12 hours.
The water we use in cooking has to be cold water .
Directly into the pot along with the water we add all the ingredients for seasoning (onion, leek, carrots, green pepper).
The cooking time is shorter than that of other legumes, and this must be taken into account when controlling the cooking time of the other ingredients.
The boil must be at medium temperature and continuous.

In Italy, there's a tradition of seeing off the new year by eating lentils. Because of their shape, lentils resemble small coins, and eating them on New Year's Day is supposed to bring prosperity.

Now that we know everything about this food, let's prepare a lentil salad worth appreciating ❤.

Lentil Salad Recipe

Ingredients

100 gr. of lentils (½ cup)
1 tomato.
1 purple onion.
2 peppers.
1 carrot.
1 branch of celery.
Kale or chard.
2 lemons.
1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Salt and pepper to taste.

How to cook lentils

Soak the lentils for a few hours before starting to cook them.
After the time has elapsed, drain the water and place them in a pot on the stove in clean, salted water. At this point, you can add oregano or bay leaves to the water. Cook for 15 minutes; they should not be too soft.
After the time has passed, drain the water and let the lentils cool and dry.

Prepare the salad vinaigrette

In a bowl, place the juice of both lemons. Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil, pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt on top.
Mix and combine everything, then finally add the finely chopped onion and a sprig of cilantro. Let it rest.

How to make lentil salad step by step

Grate the carrot, chop the other ingredients and place them in a large container.
Add the cooked, dried lentils to the chopped vegetables. Stir.
Finally, add the onion vinaigrette. Mix well and serve.