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Middle Eastern-Inspired Lentil Salad | © Urban Cottage Life.com 2016

Middle Eastern-Inspired Lentil Salad

You can use any type of lentils for this dish, except for red lentils, which turn mushy when cooked. I used a mix of sprouted lentils this time. The recipe calls for lentils that have already been cooked, but you can cook them just for this salad in about 15 or so minutes.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings 4 side servings
Author Marlene Cornelis

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked lentils, preferably still warm
  • about 12 large mint leaves chopped, plus more for garnish
  • 1 tbsp chopped thyme leaves
  • 1 small red chili pepper minced
  • 1 small shallot minced
  • zest of half a small lemon
  • 1/4 tsp ground sumac
  • 2 tsp sesame seeds, brown or white
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • a good grinding of black pepper

How To Make This Recipe

  1. Place the lentils in a medium-sized mixing bowl and add the herbs, chili pepper, shallot, lemon zest, sumac and sesame seeds and mix well. Add the lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper, and stir until all the lentils are glistening. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.

  2. If you aren't serving the salad right away, add a little extra lemon juice; the lentils soak up and dull the lemon flavour over time, so start with a more assertive flavour than you'd like the salad to have at serving time.
  3. Garnish the dish with more chopped mint just prior to serving.