Lentil Salad (Without Sand)

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You might have noticed there’s been an awful lot of healthy eating here at Life Through the Kitchen Cottage Window. I guess that’s what happens when I wear a bathing suit every day. I’m beginning to think maybe I should wear a bathing suit under my work clothes, just to keep this up when I return to the real (i.e., not vacationing) world!

Remember those lentils that I cooked earlier in the week? On Saturday I used about two cups of them to make a lentil salad. It was really easy and here’s how I threw it together to serve two. Put two tablespoons rice wine vinegar and a tablespoon and a half of olive oil in a bowl with some freshly ground pepper and salt., and gave it a good stir. Toss in the following vegetables, halved or quartered and thinly sliced: cucumber, carrot, celery and radish. Add about one third of a red bell pepper, finely chopped. Put the cooked lentils in next, and stir everything together. Taste and adjust seasonings as you like.

For some extra freshness and crunchiness, I quartered and chopped a heart of romaine lettuce and put that in a ring on two plates. The lentil salad and its generous dressing (enough for the lettuce) was mounded in the middle.

And voila, in only a few minutes I had used leftovers from my early-week cooking ahead spree to make another quick and tasty lunch that we enjoyed on the beach. That said, since it was fairly windy I might have been wiser to enjoy my lunch on the patio at the top of the stairs. I managed to get a spray of fine sand on my salad, which added an unpleasant grittiness. I think there was quite enough roughage in the salad without this extra addition!

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9 comments

  1. Ah, the joy of dining on the beach. It’s all so appetizing and tasty until that first gust of wind. Gone with the wind, indeed. 🙂
    Even so, your lentil salad sounds delicious, Mar. It’s a filling meal without being heavy, just right for a beach vacation. And the fact that you were able to clear out the fridge to make it is icing on the cake.

    • There wasn’t a grain of Sand on the Culinary Enthusiast’s plate; wonder how I was so lucky to get it all?

      I’m writing this on Tuesday, camped out on the town library waiting for the laundry to dry. A line of thunderstorms stretching all the way from your part of the world to southwestern Ontario is rolling in. This will be a travel day, with lunch at a little cafe we love in a resort town about 45 minutes from here. Not every day is meant for cooking!

  2. I’d love to be on your beach with that salad! I laughed when reading your post.. I need to keep that bikini on under my clothes.. it’d steer me away from my kitchen for sure!! xo

    • Actually, if I wore a bikini I’d probably stop eating altogether! A one-piece is motivation enough for me! And I probably should have started wearing it in March instead of waiting until I got to the beach!

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