Care for a tangy, flavorful, and robustly ornamented green lentil salad that you can make in less than 30 minutes? Then allow me to introduce you to this zesty green lentil salad recipe: peppered with bright herbs and fresh, crunchy veggies; dressed in a zippy lime-sriracha vinaigrette; and garnished with cherry tomatoes, pepitas and your choice of something creamy, this wonderful amazing green lentil salad is a protein-packed, easily-snacked-on salad that’ll keep you energized and satisfied throughout the day.
The Elements of this Green Lentil Salad
- Green Lentils
They’re an incredibly hearty, healthy, easy to cook legume, as well as an excellent source of plant-based protein, certain B vitamins, iron, and dietary fiber. Lentils will easily fill you up without bogging you down, and energize your body throughout the day or after a difficult one. Best yet, they won’t hurt your wallet either: they’re typically as cheap as the dirt from which they’re harvested, especially green lentils.
- Parsley and Mint
These herbs are needed to zest up the salad and impart a vibrancy that you can only get with an aromatic herb. The fresh, pungent parsley and mint spruce up the salad in flavor but also in appearance too, breathing some life into the otherwise plain looking legume that is the green lentil.
- Fresh Veggies
Use red or yellow onions for that powerful spike of raw onion flavor, along with red bell pepper for a mellower crunch and a little bit of raw garlic for a pungency that’ll enhance the other flavors without overwhelming them completely.
- A Lime-Sriracha Dressing
All salads need to be dressed, and what better than a tangy and oil-free dressing of lime juice and sriracha, which marry to create a delicious and dynamic dressing for your green lentil salad.
- The Garnishes
The most critical of the garnishes being beautifully tart and bursting cherry tomatoes: acidic but fresh; somehow crunchy and soft at the same time; bright and bold. Following that is also a speckling of the pumpkin seeds, something refreshingly creamy like coconut yogurt or vegan feta, as well as more sriracha or hot sauce on the side, if you want an additional layer of spiciness.
Lentils 101: The Most Basic Thing That You Need to Know About Them
If there’s one thing that you need to know about lentils it’s this: please, please, please pick through the dry lentils before you cook them. This applies both to this particular green lentil salad, but also for anything else in which you’re going to use these littles legumes.
The reason for this is because lentils are notorious for harboring small rocks in their midsts, and you don’t want you or someone else to be chomping down on one of those mid-chew. So, you’ll have to scan the dry lentils carefully to ensure that you remove any potentially tooth-chipping debris before cooking them.
Yes, it’s slightly tedious, but it’s necessary. Dash them across a bright, easily-maneuverable surface like a towel or light-colored cloth, strain through them for a minute or two with your hands like your a monkey grooming your relatives for mites, and then pluck out anything that looks suspicious or not like the others.
My mantra when picking through lentils is this: when in doubt, if it doesn’t look like a lentil, it has to go; your molars and dentist will thank me for it.
Options for Plant-Based Creaminess
Because a lot of this green lentil salad is naturally very tart (cherry tomatoes, lime juice, sriracha, yellow onion), you will need some relief from the tartness every couple bites or so. The solution is either a yogurt of some kind or a vegan feta, in my opinion.
Firstly, you can add an unsweetened yogurt – like So Delicious Unsweetened Plain Coconutmilk Yogurt – on the side or dolloped on the top of the salad. Even though coconut yogurt does have a tartness to it too, it also adds a more viscous creaminess than offsets that a bit, and for that reason can be quite refreshing. Additionally, really any kind of yogurt (such as a milder one like cashew) would do in coconut yogurt’s place, as long as it’s not overtly sweet.
Secondly, you can add a vegan feta cheese to the dish. Crumbly, salty, and creamy feta is not only texturally different, but a much needed relief in terms of flavor as well. Personally, I would recommend Violife’s Just Like Feta. When crumbled over the top of this salad, it’s an astoundingly creamy compliment and – mwah! Italian gesture – estremamente deliziosa. Yes, it crumbles just as feta does, and imparts that perfect salty, creamy bite that you’ll need to help tame the tartness of this salad.
Alternatively, figure out your own method of cutting through the acid in this green lentil salad with some creamy goodness of your own choosing. It may be possible to use a tofu feta, or even this amazingly good almond cream that I made back in July to accompany this astringent and sourly dressed Roasted Brussel Sprout Salad!
How To Cook Green Lentils for the Green Lentil Salad
I used Simple Truth’s Organic Green Lentils for this green lentil salad recipe. They are quite succulent and flavorful, as well as inexpensive, too. However, the directions on the back of the package for cooking the lentils are not at all accurate, in my humble opinion.
Naturally, the first time attempting this green lentil salad, I followed the directions on the bag. To paraphrase, it read that “the lentils are best cooked at a light simmer for 15 – 20 minutes.” But that’s wrong (sorry simple truth, that’s simply the truth)! 15 minutes in boiling water, and your lentils will be bland mush. I like mine with a bit of bite, a bit of texture – as the Italians would call, “al dente” – so I simply cooked them for 10 minutes, and then strained them in a fine-meshed colander under cold water, so as to stop them from cooking anymore.
The key to cooking lentils is to test them every so often, just as you would with a fine pasta. Don’t rely on the bag instructions; rarely are they right about the cook time. One quick naw on a lentil every couple of minutes should tell you everything you need to know. You don’t want them mushy, but you definitely don’t want a crunch either; some happy in-between is what you should aim for: slightly firm, but mostly soft. This aforementioned al dente texture is especially good for a salad, where you need the body of the lentil to be strong enough to hold its shape.
Note: This recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups cooked lentils. In order to yield 1 1/2 cups of cooked lentils, you don’t need to cook 1 1/2 cups dry lentils. About half of that – 3/4 cup to 1 cup dry lentils – should suffice, and even then you may still have plenty of leftover lentils to use as it pleases you.
Dig in!
You don’t need my permission to dig in to these delectable green lentil salad! It shouldn’t take you all that long to make, and most of the ingredients are quite basic and accessible, if you live in an area with a grocery store near you. Make it ahead of time and let it sit in the fridge; it keeps well there, and can serve as an amazingly invigorating pre-made lunch. Truly, this green lentil salad is a healthy bowl of lentil-y goodness that’ll be a comfort whenever you need a quick, zesty pick-me-up.
Zesty Green Lentil Salad with Lime-Sriracha Dressing
Equipment
- Medium Pot
- Fine Meshed Colander or Sieve
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups cooked green lentils, about ¾ – 1 cup dry lentils cooked for 10 minutes
- ½ yellow or red onion, finely diced
- ½ red bell pepper, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- ¼ cup fresh mint, minced
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, minced
- 1 lime, freshly squeezed (about ⅓ cup or so of juice)
- ½ tablespoon sriracha
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 – 2 teaspoon(s) agave
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Garnishes
- Cherry tomatoes, halved
- Unsweetened coconut yogurt, or vegan feta like Violife's Just Like Feta (https://violifefoods.com/us/product/just-like-feta-block/)
- Pepitas
- Sriracha
Instructions
- Firstly, spread the uncooked green lentils out on a lightly-colored dish cloth or paper towel, and pick through them to ensure there are no rocks or debris.
- Next, in a medium pot, cover the ¾ – 1 cup of dry lentils with about 4 – 6 cups of water, then bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a steady simmer, cover partially with a lid, and let the lentils boil for about 10 minutes, testing often. You want them to be soft yet also slightly firm.
- While the lentils are boiling, prepare your fresh veggies and herbs. Also, combine the lime juice, sriracha, chili powder, agave and red wine vinegar in a small bowl, and then whisk throughly.
- When the lentils are done cooking, strain them through a fine meshed colander, and then rinse them with cold water. Let them drain, and then combine them in a medium mixing bowl with the onion, red pepper, garlic, mint, parsley and lime-sriracha vinaigrette.
- Serve the green lentil salad right away with the garnishes of cherry tomato, coconut yogurt or vegan feta, pepitas, and sriracha, or store it in the fridge for later (without the garnishes on it – tomatoes don't do well in the fridge). It can last up to a week or so in the fridge in an air-tight container.
Nutrition
Did you enjoy this green lentil salad? Leave a recipe rating and comment!
If you’re looking for another lentil salad – perhaps of a different variety lentil – then do check out my Puy Lentil and Mandarin Orange Salad from a couple months ago. It’s another excellent demonstration of the mighty lentil salad!
May you have good food in good company,
That Vegan Nephew
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