A wonderful salad for a picnic or dinner with friends and family in the summer. This vegan-friendly whole-food lentil salad recipe is incredibly simple to make.
| Prep Time: | 40 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Additional Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 cups |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ large red bell peppers, halved and seeded
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup French green lentils
- 3 cups cold water
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 2 stalks celery, finely diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
- ½ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 small shallots, coarsely chopped
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 ½ tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
- Toss red pepper halves with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Place them on a baking sheet and roast until the peppers are very soft and crisp at the edges, about 20 minutes. Allow peppers to cool, then dice into 1/4-inch cubes. Set aside in a large mixing bowl.
- Combine lentils and cold water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, add a pinch of salt, and simmer, covered, until the lentils are just tender to the bite, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and cool. Transfer cooled lentils to the mixing bowl.
- Gently mix in the onion, celery, carrots, and parsley. Add 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Combine the Dijon mustard, chopped shallots, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, and balsamic vinegar in a blender. Blend on High for 10 seconds. Gradually add olive oil and blend again until the dressing is fully emulsified and smooth. Pour 1/2 cup dressing over lentils and stir gently with a wooden spoon. Taste the salad and add remaining dressing if desired.
Reviews
Very yummy. Added more lemon. Scrumptious!
Made this for my daughter who is vegetarian (after trying several others…she comes in from CA so I want something nutritious she can eat right away) and she liked it a lot. Now I make it for myself but use Dellallo spicy and tangy red peppers in a jar just to save time. I think the dressing would be good on salad, also. I only like the lentils lightly coated.
Lots of ingredients, but easy and tasty!
really good. love the fresh veggies cause they add crunch. much better than bean salad cause the lentils have a little bite to them. I’ll definitely make it again and experiment a bit. so healthy and refreshing
I made the lenils in my pressur cooker and it was done and ready to eat in less than 30 minutes, including prep time. Good warm, but even better when it is chilled.
This is the bomb! We love it scooped inside homemade Chapati bread. Thank you so much for posting this awesome recipe!
Super yummy and healthy to boot! I adapted the ingredients based on my pantry contents and used apple cider vinegar, dried parsley and limes. I added some garlic and roasted green pepper in addition to the red pepper. I used canned lentils which made this a very quick and easy recipe. This is is definitely a keeper and will become a regular edition to future meals!
Made this last night according to directions. It was wonderful! So light, healthy and refreshing. We ate it as a main dish with nine grain bread. I’m eating it again today.
I made this for a picnic and it was fabulous. The flavor became even better as it marinated; as leftovers the next day the flavor improved again! I will be using this as a go to recipe in my home for picnics, lunches….any excuse necessary.
This is delicious. The only change I made was using water chestnuts instead of celery. I also used roasted red peppers from a jar which saves time. I loved it!
This lentil salad taste great I also tried with some great bread and made a vegetarian sandwich.
This was very tasty! I only made and used 1/2 the dressing. Nice mix of complex, layered flavors. Will make again for sure.
I made this recipe exactly as written with the exception of using small red lentils. The recipe is superb except for one thing–the hard carrots ruined the overall texture. I recommend either parboiling the carrots or coarsely grating them, which I plan to do next time I make it.
OMG! This is the best salad. I made it exactly according to recipe and it came out perfect. I doubled the recipe and it is not going to last long. We couldn’t stop eating it. It is so healthy and nutritious all you need to do is add some rolls or biscuits and you have a complete meal. If you love tabbouleh or middle eastern foods, this will soon become an instant favorite.
Delicious! Made exactly according to the recipe. Think I might use 1/4 cup more lentils next time & perhaps a touch of cumin for more of a Mediterranean flavor. But wonderful as is. Thanks!
I loved it!! this was great and yummy!!
Loeved everything that went into it and it was so pretty and colorful but the flavors just didn’t make it for me.
Excellent recipe! Didn’t have white wine vinegar so I used red wine vinegar. Will make this again!!! Thank ou for an excellent recipe!!!!
Im always finding something new to try especially lunch entrees. I really love this salad (but you really gotta love lentils) combo especially the vinaigrette. I just added a tad bit more salt to taste and used rice vinegar instead of white wine vinegar (did not have any). Oh yeah, I didnt have carrots either.
This was great and very easy. I omitted the onion (allergy problem), added some barley and cut down on the olive oil. I also used marinated red peppers to save time.