| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 35 min |
| Prep: | 10 min |
| Cook: | 25 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, halved
- 1 fresh bay leaf
- 1 1/2 cups lentils
- 2 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and chopped into small dice
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large shallot, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1/3 cup vegetable stock
- 1/2 cup packed mint leaves
- 1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cups spinach
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add the onion, bay and lentils to a medium pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Simmer the lentils 10 minutes, then add the potatoes and cook for 7 to 8 minutes more.
- While the lentils and potatoes cook, heat a tablespoon of oil in a medium skillet over low heat and saute the shallots, garlic and peppers for a couple of minutes. Add the peas and heat through for 1 minute more. Transfer to a shallow serving bowl to cool.
- In a food processor, add the stock, mint and cilantro. Process until it becomes a paste. Add to the bowl with the pepper mixture.
- Drain the lentils and the potatoes and discard the onions and the bay leaf. Return the lentil mixture to the hot pot to dry for a minute, then add to the bowl with herb paste and vegetables. Add 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil to the salad bowl and toss. Season with cumin, and salt and pepper, to taste. Toss again and serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 399 |
| Total Fat | 17 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Carbohydrates | 50 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 9 g |
| Sugar | 4 g |
| Protein | 15 g |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 498 mg |
Reviews
Saw this episode & this meal sounded good to me. The chicken part of it was delicious, but I could take or leave the potato salad. I think that boiling the lentils/potatoes in vegetable stock might have added more flavor to the salad. I added a pinch of salt & a good dusting of cumin to it & finished it with a bit of olive oil as directed which made it palatable. i won’t bother with it again. I’ll just serve the chicken with dal (red lentil stew –less ingredients; less mess & more flavorful in my opinion.
Sorry, but YUCK! I love lentils and potatoes and cilantro. But this mixture didn’t work for me. Another reviewer mentioned you need to like cilantro. I think this has a very “Indian” food flavor and you would have to like Indian food to like this meal. After all the show was all about Indian food. But sorry, I took just a couple of bites then threw it all out. Then washed the flavor out of my mouth. Just was not what I expected.
I adore Rachael and have become a more knowledgeable and more adventurous cook from watching her shows. So when I saw this recipe, and the accompanying chicken dish, I thought I’d give Indian food a shot. Although I followed the recipe exactly, this dish was “truly nasty,” as another reviewer stated. What you get when you toss the lentils, potatoes and peas with the cilantro/mint mixture is a big green mess, which is completely unappetizing. To add insult to injury, there wasn’t even any discernible flavor either, even though I desperately tried to salvage the dish by adding lime zest and juice. After one bite, my husband begged me to throw it out, which I did. P.S. The tandoori-style chicken wasn’t much better.
Nasty. Truly nasty.
Made this for the first time today, and my husband and I were pleasantly surprised: it’s filling, tasty, and cruelty-free.
Will definitely make this again!!
After watching Rachel’s show I was excited to try the almost tandori chicken w/ this salad. I have to say, while this was interesting, it was also bland bland bland. I tried to get some brightness with zest from a lime, but really the whole salad just laid there like a hot mess. I did salvage it a little, taking the left ober chicken ,gringind it up, and mixing salad w/ the chicken to make an empanada like stuffing. Then paired it with a curry dipping sauce for dinner the following night.
Horrible
I came here looking to see if anyone had posted where the spinach goes; discovered it goes in the dressing so that you have dressing and not cilantro soup.
Agree with the commenters who noted the blandness; it definitely needs spice. Hot sauce helps, but this is not one of Rach’s best.
Even with increasing the cilantro, mint, and garlic, I thought this dish was dull. There are much better lentil salad recipes out there. Leaving the peppers and onion raw might have helped, but not much.
Saw this episode and couldn’t wait to print out recipes! We love all the flavors involved.
My printer didn’t print last two paragraphs of recipe so I winged it. Didn’t turn out very well since I didn’t make dressing. Will make the recipe again but still wonder…
Where does the spinach fit in? In the “pesto”, with the sauted veges?
Recipe mentions “peppers” what other pepper?
Perhaps better editing before posting?
My printer didn’t print last two paragraphs of recipe so I winged it. Didn’t turn out very well since I didn’t make dressing. Will make the recipe again but still wonder…
Where does the spinach fit in? In the “pesto”, with the sauted veges?
Recipe mentions “peppers” what other pepper?
Perhaps better editing before posting?