This salad is perfect for the summer. Every gathering I’ve been invited to has requested that I bring it!
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 50 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups orzo pasta
- 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- ¾ cup dried brown lentils, rinsed and drained
- ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
- 1 ½ cups crumbled feta cheese
- 1 small red onion, diced
- ½ cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves
- ½ cup chopped fresh dill
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes; drain. Transfer pasta into a large bowl, and mix in 1 tablespoon olive oil; cover, and refrigerate until cool.
- Place lentils into a small saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Cover, and simmer over low heat until lentils are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.
- Combine the remaining olive oil, vinegar, and garlic in a small bowl.
- Remove pasta from refrigerator; add lentils, oil mixture, olives, feta cheese, red onion, mint, and dill; stir until thoroughly blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 374 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 38 g |
| Cholesterol | 25 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 7 g |
| Protein | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 456 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 19 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Delicious!
Wanted to add more lentils into my kids diet and thought the pasta lentil salad was the way to go. This fresh herbs and feta are key and is what makes this recipe. The dressing was a tad to much on the vinegar side and I would reduce it to a 1:2 ratio of vinegar to oil. This is a great recipe to add in cucumbers, thank you.
Wow – I love this so much! I’m not a huge fan of olives so I added in cucumbers and cherry tomatoes to give it some “oomph.” I work outside so this is a great dish to eat in the middle of the day that’s light but filling. Plus, I love feta cheese – haha. I admittedly used less garlic in the dressing ONLY because I knew I’d be eating this at work and wanted to save my co-workers. Haha. I’ve never really enjoyed lentils before but I really do in this salad. Plus, I got to use a few ingredients from my garden so I expect to make this several times this summer. Yum!
YUM! ‘nuf said! Thanks for sharing.
I changed so many things this is hardly even a review of this recipe but if anyone is interested…I omitted the onion, used balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar (just what I had), used black olives instead of kalamata, added quartered cherry tomatoes and toasted sliced almonds. Even without the onion it was kind of a riot of flavors, and I was really glad to have the tomatoes in it because it seemed to balance it out a little bit. It still seemed like it could have used more vegetables.
Loved it!!!!!
I soaked the lentils overnight and so did not have to cook them. I like that texture better for cold lentil dishes. Will make this during cucumber season and add as many seeded, diced cucumbers as it can hold.
I’ve made this salad probably 50 times over the last decade, exactly as-is. No matter where I bring it – foodies, non-foodies, people who think they don’t like lentils, etc – it always gets rave reviews. One of my top 10 recipes!
I made this exactly. It was delicious! Perfect! Kids hated it, but that’s to be expected with the red onion, etc. Both hubby and I liked it (he usually doesn’t like olives but somehow this was delicious for him!)
As suggested, I cooked the lentils and after 10 mins added the orzo into the same pot and continued for another 10. Pretty much followed the recipe otherwise. It was much better than I’d expected and will probably even better tomorrow after melding in the pot all night long. I’m new to vegetarian cooking and looking for recipes that are nutritious, delicious, and filling. This one meets all requirements.
I did make a couple of changes/additions: used four scallions instead of the red onion, substituted the juice of three limes for the red-wine vinegar, and added two diced Roma tomatoes. If I feel ambitious tomorrow, I may add some lightly steamed asparagus. No need for any additional salt — the Feta’s salty enough.
This came out great! Great balance of flavors. I used a three-lentil blend. I was concerned when my lentils were a bit pastey but they broke up as I stirred everything together and it tasted great.
Just made this & it was so flavorful & delicious. Will definitely be making it again & again.
Yummy! I had to sub dried dill since I didn’t have fresh, which I’m sure would have been tastier, and added a wee bit of fresh parsley. Used fresh mint as recipe said, which is delicious. I only made half the recipe and other than following suggestion to add some fresh-squeezed lemon juice, pretty much followed as written. Would make again! May try adding cukes and tomatoes next time for more salad-y qualities. We ate this warmish. Also nice with chicken on the side. Hubby liked this.
This was good. Like everybody else I made adjustments for what I had on hand and personal taste. I cooked the lentils with half the garlic and some of the red onion and a bay leaf. I have to complain about the directions regarding the lentils. It just says to cover with water, well how much is that? I never cooked lentils before so I found that I had to keep adding water, so that was annoying. Made with couscous instead of orzo to be healthier. Added a little of celery, and used half white balsamic and half red wine vinegar. Used dry dill. When I served it, I added fresh tomatoes on top; will add cukes as well tonight. This recipe makes a lot.
I made this salad exactly as the recipe instructed. My entire family loved it and asked for the recipe. I will definitely be making it again. It is a perfect vegetarian supper idea. I was pleased to find kalamata olives in a jar already pitted. A quick trip to the fresh herb section in the grocery store and I had all of the other ingredients. I will be making it for company when they come since it is that delicious.
A really good, refreshing and good-for-you salad! I followed someone else’s tip about partly cooking the lentils, adding the orzo and finish the two together. Less clean-up…always a good thing! I used French lentils, dill weed and 2 garlic cloves. I also omitted the onion, added chopped artichoke hearts (canned & well drained) and stirred Dijon mustard into the vinaigrette. Wasn’t super-picky about measurements. I toasted some pine nuts and set them to the side for people to put on top if they liked. Many compliments & requests for the recipe. Made a ton, so that’s what I’ll have for supper tonight. Thanks for a keeper!
Didn’t have mint, so substituted half parsley half basil and still turned out delicious. can’t wait for it to chill!
This is such a wonderful, easily customizable recipe. I too change a few things around based on what I had at home: 1/2 orzo 1/2 quinoa (5/8 each), added turkey, cucumber, used balsamic vinegar, no olives, some lemon…it was just wonderful. Light and filling. Thank you for posting. I am going to be making this OFTEN!
This is excellent. I have made it for a lot of events now and it is always raved about.
FANTASTIC. I used Trader Joes already made lentils which cut down on time. Didn’t cool orzo in fridge, just rinsed in cold water then combined with everything else. Added half a diced cucumber, a jar of rinsed sun dried tomatoes, used sliced black olives too. Used only about a TBS of olive oil total and squeezed a lemon in instead. Going to play with fresh tomatos and artichoke hearts next time. Super good and healthy!