Lentil Salad with Sherry Vinegar Dressing

Lentil Salad with Sherry Vinegar Dressing

Serves 4

This salad’s got it all – wonderfully earthy flavours from lentils along with a creamy salty hit from feta, a good crunch from snappy beans and a crisp fresh bite from cherry tomatoes and a dressing using sherry vinegar. Whoop!

Turn it into a main course be serving with good grainy bread and roasted pumpkin, or add canned tuna alongside and soft-cooked eggs. An if green beans aren’t available, use broccolini.

100g (½ cup) Puy or brown lentils, picked over, rinsed and drained

¼ cup pine nuts

100g slim green beans, trimmed

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

Finely grated zest 1 lemon

2 Tbsp sherry vinegar

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

¾ tsp flaky sea salt, or to taste

125g cherry tomatoes, halved

100g rocket, trimmed

1 small cos lettuce leaves, trimmed

100g soft feta cheese, crumbled

 

1 Put lentils in a pan, cover with cold water and bring to a gentle boil. Cook gently, partially covered with a lid, for 20-30 minutes, until tender; be careful not to overcook. Drain lentils and let them cool for 5 minutes.

 

2 Toast pine nuts in a frying pan with just a lick of olive oil over a gentle heat until lightly golden. Transfer to paper towels when ready.

 

3 Plunge green beans into a saucepan of lightly salted water and cook for 3-5 minutes, keeping them crisp but not hard. Drain and refresh with plenty of cold water. Dry off on paper towels. If the beans are long, cut into halves or thirds.

 

4 Wash and dry cos lettuce leaves and tear into bite-sized pieces. Store in a plastic bag lined with paper towels in the fridge until ready to use.

 

5 In a large bowl mix garlic, lemon zest, sherry vinegar and extra virgin olive oil together adding sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Mix in lentils and green beans, then tomatoes, pine nuts and salad leaves and toss again. Crumble feta over the top, or toss it through, then serve immediately.