French Green Lentil Salad

5 from 8 votes

French Green Lentil Salad with Balsamic Vinegar dressing - A flavorful meal on its own! This is a nice recipe to make as a meal or as a side and takes less than 30 minutes to make.

Prep Time10

Cook Time25

Total Time35

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan

Servings: Servings

Calories: 65kcal

Author: Sandhya Ramakrishnan

Equipment

Pot
Mixing Bowl
Stove

Ingredients

1 cup French Green lentil
¼ cup Sweet red onion finely chopped
½ cup Cucumber finely chopped
¼ cup Tomatoes deseeded
1 tablespoon Jalapeno deseeded - (finely chopped)
2 tablespoon Cilantro finely chopped
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

To make the Balsamic Vinegar dressing -

3 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
½ tablespoon Honey

Instructions

Rinse the lentils well under running water and soak it in water for about an hour. Soaking is not essential but it helps in cooking the lentils faster.
Once the lentils have soaked for a bit, drain the water and add it to a pot. Add plenty of fresh water to the pot and bring it to a boil.
Let the lentils cook until it is cooked half way through. Add a bit of salt to the boiling water and let the lentils cook until it is soft when crushed between the fingers, but not mushy. Mine took about 20 minutes to cook after I had soaked it for about an hour. If using lentils without soaking, it might take a little longer to cook.
Make sure that the lentils still have a bite to them and are not very mushy. Drain it in a colander and let it sit for few minutes until it has drained completely.
In the meantime chop the rest of the vegetables and add it to a serving dish.
Add the well drained lentil in to the same bowl and add salt and pepper to taste.
To make the dressing - Whisk together all the ingredients mentioned in a small bowl.
Add the dressing to the lentil mixture and mix well.
Refrigerate the salad for at least couple of hours before serving. The salad can be served at room temperature as well but I preferred it cold.

Nutrition