My friend Olga makes a lentil salad that nobody can stop eating. Yes, lentils. A salad. I can feel your skepticism through this computer screen (it’s my single superpower) but please feel assured that I would never lie to you, about lentils especially. Her recipe is one of the greatest Trader Joe’s “hacks” of all time: 1 package of their prepared lentils, 1 jar of their bruschetta topping, and then Olga always adds more chopped tomatoes, cilantro, and avocado.
The only change I make at home is that instead using the jarred topping, I use a half-batch of my Quick, Easy Salsa, a quick blend of white onion, garlic, cilantro, jalapeño, and lime that turns the most basic can of tomatoes into a perfect bowl of salsa. Here, it’s the dressing; we add hot sauce to taste and then we scoop it up with tortilla chips, usually standing in the kitchen. It’s one of my favorite workday lunches and it’s absolutely not right or fair that I’ve taken as long as I have to tell you about it. You can send all sternly-worded letters of dismay directly to the editor (it me) and she will nod her head in full agreement. I can’t wait for you to get hooked on this, too.
Previously
6 months ago: Frozen Strawberry Daiquiris
1 year ago: Lemon and Lime Mintade
2 years ago: Roasted Squash and Tofu with Ginger
3 years ago: Plush Coconut Cake
4 years ago: Sheet Pan Meatballs with Crispy Turmeric Chickpeas
5 years ago: Chocolate Dutch Baby
6 years ago: Blood Orange, Almond, and Ricotta Cake and Cabbage and Sausage Casserole
7 years ago: Key Lime Pie and Make Your Own Vanilla Extract
8 years ago: Pear and Hazelnut Muffins and Warm Lentil and Potato Salad
9 years ago: Lentil Soup with Sausage, Chard, and Garlic
10 years ago: Buttermilk Roast Chicken
11 years ago: Baked Potato Soup
12 years ago: Black Bean Soup + Toasted Cumin Seed Crema and Cranberry Syrup and an Intensely Almond Cake
13 years ago: Clementine Cake and Mushroom Bourguignon
14 years ago: Chicken Caesar Salad and Fried Chicken
15 years ago: Grapefruit Yogurt Cake
My Favorite Lentil Salad
- 2 1/2 cups cooked, cooled small green, brown, or black lentils [see Note at end]
- One 28-ounce can whole tomatoes
- 1/2 a large or 1 small white onion, chopped
- 1 to 2 fresh jalapeños, to taste, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves, divided
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lime, juiced, plus more to taste
- 1 large firm-ripe avocado, diced
- 2 cups (about a 12-ounce package) cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
- Hot sauce, to taste
- Tortilla chips for serving (optional)
Place onion, jalapeño, and garlic in a blender or food processor [see Note at end] and run the machine in short bursts until they’re in smaller bits. Add two-thirds (just eyeball it) cilantro, drained tomatoes, salt, and juice of one lime and run the machine until the tomatoes are well-chopped but not totally smooth. When making salsa for scooping up with chips, I will add some of the reserved tomato juices, a tablespoon at a time, if the mixture is very thick, but to dress this lentil salad, we don’t want it very thin. Adjust seasoning to ensure it’s robust enough to dress the lentils, adding salt, pepper, and more lime juice, if needed to taste.
Place lentils in a big bowl. If they’re from a vacuum-pack, use your fingers to break up clumps. (I find a spoon or fork damages the lentils too much.) Add 1 1/2 cups of tomato mixture to the lentils and stir to combine. Taste and add more salsa to taste; I usually go with a full 2 cups. Season with salt and black pepper to taste, and add more lime juice if desired. Add avocado, tomatoes, and reserved cilantro and stir gently to combine. Serve with hot sauce and tortilla chips, if you wish.
Leftovers keep for 5 days in the fridge.
Notes:
- Let’s talk about lentils: The best kind to use in salads are those that do not fall apart when cooked. My favorites are small green (often sold as lentils du Puy), small brown lentils (sometimes called castelluccio), or even black lentils. Cook them in salted water according to their package directions, or whatever your favorite way to cook lentils is, then cool them before using. Here I’m using one 17.6-ounce package of Trader Joe’s Steamed & Fully Cooked Lentils, a truly perfect product.
- If you’re using an immersion or regular (i.e. not high-powered like a Vitamix) blender instead of a food processor to make the salsa, it helps to start with more finely chopped onion, garlic, and jalapeño. As written, roughly chopped is fine, presuming the machine will be mulching it further for us.
- Deb, why are we making a full batch of your salsa when we will only use half? Because I want you to be able to add more to taste and because I’m thrilled to have extra — for tacos, for eggs, for chips. You could halve the tomatoes and other salsa ingredients, but I don’t want you to to come up short if you want more than it makes.
- When making the salad with an eye towards leftovers for future lunches, I’ll often leave the avocado out so it doesn’t get soft or discolored in the fridge. [It’s still 100% okay to eat, but doesn’t look as cute.] Instead, I’ll add some each time I eat it.
Great recipe but why salt the lentil water? I was always told not to until the very end. Excited to try this next week!
I’ve understood that, like beans, it’s been shown to absolutely safe to salt the cooking water. It will not toughen beans or keep them from cooking. (Acidity, however, can slow things down.)
Thank you!
No Trader Joe’s here 😩
Can I use canned lentils instead?
Same! I ended up using canned and it was great
Great healthy and tasty weeknight dinner, served over butterred barley. But the salsa was a revelation! I never thought to use canned tomatoes!! Im never buying jarred salsa again! Note, I buy only the good canned tomatoes. San marzano. For homemade pasta I even splurge on the bianco di napoli and I think its worth it. <3
Can I use canned lentils?
I totally agree about the Trader Joe’s lentils!
I use them all the time – open and put into a container in the fridge and use them in a gazillion ways. I was introduced to the hack of 1 package of their prepared lentils, 1 jar of their bruschetta topping a few years ago and it is my go-to easy potluck contribution. Gone in moments when served w/ tortilla chips.
My other hack is to mix trader joe’s lentils w/ rice I have in the refrigerator w/ a little bit of chutney. Warm it up and then top with diced red onion, cucumber, cilantro and a dollop of greek yogurt. A super easy lunch.
Or, I make gyros using the lentils as the base in the pita and top with the cucumbers, tomatoes, onion and tatziki.
Or, they do really well when making lentil burgers because they aren’t watery.
Okay, I’ll stop. I love SK and I love TJ lentils. A perfect match :)
I’m so glad it’s not just me. They’re… perfect. They also have a long shelf life in the fridge (and longer, even) in the freezer so I’m occasionally tempted to hoard them.
Wait, full stop. Lentils in the freezer? Tell me more.
Absolutely – all pulses freeze brilliantly! I cook pulses in batches from dry, as a greater selection is available dried than in cans. Beans cook quicker if soaked overnight; lentils don’t need soaking. 1 cup dried makes ~2.5 cups cooked. When cooked, drain well in a colander. Spoon into glass canning jars & screw the lid on (no need to process), then store in the freezer. I use 1 cup jars (because 1/2 cup cooked lentils usually makes a good serving size for 1 person) so I’m not ploughing through the same type of pulse for multiple meals in a week :). Remove jar from freezer & defrost overnight in the fridge, or defrost directly in a microwave if you need to use immediately. Use in any recipe that calls for a can of cooked lentils or beans. Keeps for 3 days max in the fridge after thawing.
Delicious thus far, and I haven’t yet added the cherry tomatoes or avocado (I’m making ahead for weekday lunches, so I’ll add in the fresh veggies as I eat it so they don’t brown – or freeze, since my fridge likes to make popsicles out of everything – and stay nice and fresh). This reminds me of a Skinnytaste recipe where slices of hard boiled eggs and Cholula hot sauce are added on top of the lentils – it’s absolutely delicious, and I think the eggs will work wonderfully here, too.
I did this and my jars cracked :( Now I use vacuum sealed bags.
It was more of an accident but that’s where these got put away. They were fine defrosted. The bag is vacuum-sealed, which probably helped.
I can’t wait to try this!
On the subject of lentils, have you tried Melissa Clark’s lentil minestrone? I use black lentils and it is one of my picky children’s favorite meals.
Are you sure it is MC’s? NYT has a recipe but it is Martha Rose Shulman.
It says at the end reserved cilantro. I don’t see where we are supposed to have any set aside. I can’t wait to try this! Thanks you for another yummy recipe, Sue
Whoops — will fix. I want us to put 2/3 into the salsa; the rest can be stirred in at the end.
But…. SOUP! Our household has been waiting for the New Years’ soup recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Admittedly, this lentil salad appears a worthy stand-in.
Thank you for adding your humor, wisdom and flavor to our lives! Our family eats SK recipes multiple times a week.
Aw, thank you. I will make you a soup. I made chicken stock the last week in December and froze it in 1-quart bags. We then used it to make Cauliflower Soup and Greens, Orzo, and Meatball Soup the first week of January and then I got soup-ed out.
Okay I’ll be that person: how much salsa are we using for this? I realise I should be making a fresh batch of your salsa, but I actually happen to have an excess of salsa and I’m trying to find a use for it that doesn’t involve shoveling it in my mouth with tortilla chips.
Sounds amazing by the way, thank you for this recipe!
Okay I’ll be that person: how much salsa is this calling for? A cup? Because I happen to have an excess of salsa and I’d love to have another use for it.
Thank you for this!
(I tried sending this before but it’s told me I’ve already asked? So sorry if this one is now a repeat.. if it doesn’t work this time I’ll just cross my fingers and hope someone else asks)
I use between 1.5 and 2 cups. Depending on how much water is in the can, the salsa portion makes 3 to 4 cups.
What does avocado bring to the table here? I’m allergic and have never had it (in my adult memory). I can experiment with substitutes, but trying to figure out if it’s a flavor or texture thing that I’d miss. Maybe roasted sweet potatoes, chunks of cheese, tofu…?
Yes! I wanted to ask the same! Allergic as well and wondering wat aspect of it needs replacing. I hope it’s not cheese to be the perfect substitute (allergic again… :/)
Roasted pumpkin? Does take away from the simplicity of the recipe however..
This lentil/bruschetta hack has been one of my favorites for a couple of years, but I haven’t gone the salsa route. I usually add a ridiculous amount of cucumber and an extra splash of vinegar. Sometimes feta too, or fresh spinach. Even the kids will eat it willingly. It’s the perfect potluck contribution if you don’t have a kitchen and a regular on our summer camping menu.
Feta is a great addition to this salad. I only put it in the serving I am eating. I make this salad all of the time using the TJ prepared bruschetta and I always add feta. I have never had it with avocado.
I do feta, bruschetta, olive oil, and balsamic. But I don’t eat on chips :)
Avocados add richness and flavor along with the soft texture. I think any of the items you list would be great subs if avocados aren’t for you. Or just leave it out. The flavor of avocados is very mild.
Meg, my avocado wasn’t ripe enough and the recipe was delicious as made. You won’t be disappointed but I was thinking of adding a little cucumber to the recipe before I got lazy after making the salsa and cooking the lentils!
I was Zoom babysitting my granddaughter after school this afternoon, waiting for her parents to get home from work, but I needed to make a lunch for those of us on this side of the country. And this recipe arrived to the rescue. I followed it, mainly–okay pretty much, using du Puy lentils, sad not entirely ripe grape tomatoes, a double of tablespoons of last night’s spicy guacamole, a handful of chopped cilantro, some grocery store salsa–sorry, Deb–and lime juice. My main deviation was, just as the lentils were getting to creamy-firm doneness, I added a cup of frozen corn kernels and let them come to a boil. Grandpa and I thought it was a perfect Zoom lunch, and next time I’ll make the salsa. Promise…
Rushed out to Trader Joe’s and bought the ingredients; followed the recipe exactly. Kids ignored the pasta I had made for them and fought over the lentil salad. Daughter, shoveling salad into Tupperware before anyone else is done eating: “Can I take all of this to school for lunch tomorrow?” Son #1, wrestling Daughter for spoons of salad: “Mom, how often can you make this? Can we have it again tomorrow?” Son #2, not looking up from bowl as he crams lentils into his mouth: “This. Is. A. Keeper.” Me: “Guess what Deb’s next book is called?” Husband, looking despondently at empty serving bowl: “But I wanted seconds.”
Deb! You are a magician! Thank you!
This made me laugh out loud! I was already thinking I’d need to double this for my lentil-crazy family; now I think I may need to quadruple it!
Updated to add: Son #1 came home from school and his first words were “Mom, are we having that lentil salad tonight?”
I love this idea for lentil salad! Martha Rose Shulman published Fast Vegetarian Feasts back in the 1970s. In the day of the dinosaurs. She had a similar take on a lentil soup with pasta. I made it over and over again for years
The finishing touch (as originally made in my TJ’s store) is crumbled feta on top of the lentil/bruschetta mix. One of my favorite meals! Trying your version tomorrow since I have all the ingredients on hand, can’t wait!
As many of us, I have put on weight in the last several months, and as of today (the day after my birthday), I wanted to start eating a more healthy diet. This recipe fills the bill perfectly, and I’m going to make it tomorrow. BTW, I just finished a half pot (the rest in the freezer) of your shortribs/onion soup. It was wonderful, and I think this lentil recipe is the perfect follow-up. YTB Deb.
I’ve been following Smitten Kitchen for so many years I cannot even remember now but never commented and felt like I needed to today to say: thank you for sharing so many amazing recipes for so many years. I hope you keep blogging here for many many more years to come. You’re a byword among my cooking friends.
Yum! And before I moved to Germany, I would have been one of those skeptics…but now? Total convert! Just now out of curiosity, I checked on Chefkoch.de (one of the bigger recipe sites) and there are 591 recipes for “Linsensalat”. It’s quite popular on this side of the Atlantic. I make one with three types of lentils, cucumbers, tomatoes, mint, and feta (a very summery dish) but you can put all kinds of things in there – nuts, greens, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, etc. The key is getting the dressing right. Your blog is such a happy spot on the web – thank-you for your delightful writing and delicious recipes!!
I picked up this recipe at my Trader Joe’s, but their version adds a tub of crumbled feta. The color brightens the mix and I like the creaminess it adds. With or without feta, you’re right, it’s everyone’s favorite lentil salad! And SK is my go-to source for realistic cooking–love your tempting writing and photography too!
I’m all in here! Thanks sharing this! No Trader Joe’s here, but I can cook lentils. Thanks again!
This looks great. Also looks like the kind of recipe that is flexible enough to handle what I’ve got on hand, so I plan to riff on it.
And I have now remembered my favorite lentil salad for winter – with curry, potatoes, apples, and cilantro.
Just short of preparing your own lentils, TJ’s vacuum packed lentils are indeed a “truly perfect product.” You know how back in the day there was always a sample booth? Well, that’s how I discovered these lentils, otherwise I would never have tried pre-cooked lentils in a million years. They were served up with feta, and TJ’s own 21-seasoning salute. I bought both items that day and have never looked back. I always add a splash of vinaigrette and whatever crunchy veg I have in the fridge and I just feel so smug when I eat it. Who knew packaged lentils could be this good!
I am probably the only person on your hugely read site that will be asking this, but, does anyone have digestive issues after eating lentils? I would love to eat them but I always have problems. Is it how I cook them? Is there something secret I should know before eating them? I can eat other beans (pinto, black, red, garbanzo) if I do not overdo it and although lentils are not exactly beans, I figured close enough, I’d be fine…but no. If anyone has answers to this problem, I would happily eat this yummy salad soon. Thanks.
My mother has recently developed this issue, and we’re actually South Asian so she’s eaten many, many lentils in her lifetime. She also has issues with chickpeas but not so much with other beans. We haven’t found a solution yet, but you’re not alone. People say that hing or asafoetida helps with the gas from beans, but she hasn’t noticed a huge difference.
Long time lurker, first time commenter. I have this same problem, and it runs in my family. I too am of South Asian origin, so it’s been a real problem. Lentils contain a high amount of FODMAPs. FODMAPs are a group of carbohydrates that are indigestible or poorly absorbed by certain people, and can lead to IBS-type symptoms. It can also exacerbate other digestive issues, like reflux disorder, and vice-versa.
I personally have issues with digesting lentils, chickpeas, onions, garlic but I don’t think avocados… Although the amount of whatever food it is also has an impact. I tend to take mint oil capsules with meals and also have a ready supply of antacids and indigestion tablets.
If any of that sounds relatable, I recommend reading up on high-FODMAP foods.
Thanks to both Lentil Friend and AS. I will read up on this issue and glad to know others have problems too. So frustrating because even when you want to eat more healthy, it is not possible if you are feeling awful afterwards. Plus I really love all beans/lentils, etc. but they def do not love me!
I find that adding a piece of kombu (dried Japanese seaweed) while cooking actually helps with all pulses. Moreover, it doesn’t change the taste … Good luck a
I haven’t tried this, but America’s Test Kitchen recommends canned lentils if you have trouble digesting them when cooked fresh. Apparently something about the canning process removes the compounds (?) that cause stomach distress.
I was just reading on another website that adding a piece of kombu to the lentil cooking water helps make them more easily digested. If you try this, I’d taste the lentils before adding salt and adjust the amount if needed.
I saw this recipe and did exactly what you said I would…lentils? yeah right… Yet here I am, literally standing at my counter eating this right out of the bowl, muttering to myself about how incredibly good this is and feeling terrible that I ever allowed myself to doubt you :)
Go find Deb’s lentil & potato salad next. So good.
OH MY GOD!!! So good! And a perfect meal for my WW – journey.
How many points?
I read your article. Very nicely written, this writing of mine will inspire me. Hope to write something better in the future.
I red your article. Thanks for wonderful writing. I have learned a lot from your article. Hope you will write more for us in the future. Good luck.
I’m so looking forward to this! I’m looking for summery lunches (in New Zealand) as I’m sick of spinach orlettuce based salads. Looks like it’s going to be delicious!
This is going into my work from home lunch rotation starting this week!
I just made this for my WFH lunch prep this week and I can’t stop sneaking spoonfuls
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This looks absolutely lips-smackingly delicious. Think I’ll try it this weekend. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Much Informative Content.
Loved this! So easy to make, and a great option to add into the lunch rotation. Will definitely make again.
I use the entire batch of salsa for the salad! So much flavor
This was great and I’m excited to have leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch! My avocado wasn’t ripe enough so tomorrow’s lunch will be even better.
Since I cooked a pound of lentils, I will add remaining lentils and salsa to leftovers and cut some more tomatoes to add.
If you are shopping at Trader Joe’s for the lentils, I highly recommend the mini san marzano tomatoes! Also, I added a little cumin to the salsa.
What a double-bonus recipe! It’s great on salad greens as well as on a chip (but not quite as much fun). Hadn’t made the salsa before, and it’s a revelation. This is easy and delicious, even cooked my own lentils (no access to TJ version). Thank you!
Hi Deb
I love experimenting in the kitchen so I’ve been getting ideas from your blog for quite some time now.
But I just can’t get my kids to eat lentils. They are fine with chickpeas and they love beans.
Hope this recipe will work for them too!
I used the leftovers for vegetarian nachos. It was fantastic, layered along with cheese, jalapeno/lime yogurt, salsa, hot sauce, avocado, green onions, etc.
This caught my eye as something that would be delicious. But it’s a pandemic and I’m back to doing curbside groceries. I did, however, have lentils so I cooked them, added the jar of bruschetta that I got by mistake in a curbside pickup ( glad I didn’t give it away!), cherry tomatoes, avocados, lime juice, and feta. I’m thinking it probably doesn’t even count as this recipe, but it was fun and very delicious. Will make the recipe as written once I can get the right stuff. Thanks.
Recipes are like the Kama Sutra–not necessarily to be followed literally, but to give you ideas.
My husband (currently reforming eating habits) just said “Very Good”. I can add nothing🥰
I’m planning on making this for dinner tonight. What would you recommend as a “safe” food for my picky 2yo that would go well with it? Should I serve this with buttered noodles, flatbread wedges (chips are still too hard for her), rice, or potatoes? We try to keep it in the right vein so she sees us eating the safe food with the exploratory food.
Ok, so I cheated.
I used the bruschetta from TJs, and added the extra tomatoes and avocado.
I served it on top of farfalle with olive oil.
It was inhaled by the adults.
The toddler ate the farfalle and the tomatoes.
I made this recipe as stated, and it was so overwhelmingly raw oniony that I could only eat half of it (that I had brought to work for lunch) and had to chuck the other half. Perhaps English onions are that much stronger, or perhaps I don’t know what a white onion is – is it different to a normal onion?
Yes a white onion is much sweeter and milder than a “normal” (brown?) onion, I never realised until I travelled to the US. I found it more akin to a shallot in terms of flavour.
Topped with a couple of eggs, this has been my go-to breakfast lately! I first heard about the TJ’s lentils and bruschetta combo from Hrishikesh Hirway and Samin Nosrat on my favorite podcast, Home Cooking. So tasty! So easy!
These will be perfect for game day. Or teenagers. My son and his friends will love them and please visit us: https://www.beckandbulow.com
I make this Trader Joe’s lentil salad too, but I add feta (I like the Trader Joe’s Israeli feta and I just drain it and break it up). I serve it as a dip with pita chips or tortilla chips. It’s always the first thing to go and even kids gobble it up! In fact, my kids ask to take it to school for lunch.
I have never tried lentil salad but the way you present this salad looks so colorful and mouth-watering. Thanks for the awesome, easy, and cost-friendly salad recipe!
So two out of five people in my house don’t eat lentils, and one does not eat raw tomatoes. But this was a winner all around – it is the unicorn of recipes that all five people in the house ate happily. Of course, I had to serve two separate batches – one with feta for the weekday vegetarian, and the other with sliced sausage (for the milk-and-meat separately eater). It’s going on rotation.
This was amazingly good. I did not have everything and did not make it too spicy but it was good will do this again when we have real home grown tomatoes!
Fun fact about lentils… :-)
For many centuries, lentils have been considered a “poor man’s food,” a cheap and filling source of protein that was shunned by those who could afford to eat steak instead.
-Chris
I just made this lentil salad with almost no changes: a bit more garlic, a red onion instead of a white onion, and a few skinny slices of pickled jalapeno instead of fresh (that’s what we have on hand right now). It is DELICIOUS! And full of satisfying, rounded, complimentary flavors, and just enough heat for me. Thank you, Deb!
Thank you so much for sharing your tips. So very generous of you. And thank you for your wonderful recipes. You’re definitely one of the best!
I just prepared this lentil salad with only a few tweaks: a little extra garlic, a red onion instead of a white onion, and a few thin slices of pickled jalapeño instead of fresh (since that’s all we had on hand). It’s a DELICIOUS dish! And it’s had just enough spice for me, as well as pleasing, balanced, complementary tastes. Thank you very much, Deb!
YUM. Eating this for lunch and it is just delightful. TJs steamed lentils really are absolutely perfect, but my TJs runs out of them all the time and it makes me so sad. Silly question, but do you have any idea how you’d go about “hacking” the TJ version? Do you think they are green lentils? It says they are produced in France so I’m wondering if they are lentils du puy…also this is weird but I love how they clump together, but I feel like I would need to vacuum seal them together to have that effect haha….I just love those lentils so much I clearly have a problem.
What a tasty clever idea! I would be mixing this up immediately – I have a batch of lentils that need to be put to use – but I just finished a big batch of a similar concoction: black beans + salsa + shredded cheese of choice. The better the salsa, the better it turns out, and it’s better if it gets to sit for half an hour to let the flavors marry.
But I will make the lentil version SOON!
Thank you for this recipe Deb! It’s FAB!
I followed recipe as written- will make the salsa portion of the recipe separately as a salsa recipe- so easy!
Thanks!
I’ve had this recipe bookmarked since you posted it, and finally made it for lunch today. This is so good – I practically inhaled it! Lentils as a vehicle for salsa is genius and the chunks of tomato and avocado make each bite a joy.
TJ’s Lentils Recipe:
1) Heat cast iron
2) Saute pre-shreeded Trader Joe’s brussel sprouts in a fat with seasonings (preferably onion – garlic – smoked paprika – thyme but follow your heart).
3) Mix in pre-cooked lentils
4) Add a splash of red wine vinegar and maybe some veggie broth if ya have it and maybe some liquid smoke if that doesn’t freak you out and maybe some maple syrup if you like a little sweetness or maybe a squeeze of tomato paste for umami or NONE of that and just salt, whatever is fine.
5) Crack eggs in it
6) Stick in oven
7) badabing, badaboom
Substitute for cilantro? Other family member doesn’t like cilantro.
Just skip it or use parsley.
I made this for a Tomato Fest this weekend and it was a total hit with a super discerning crowd! I followed the recipe exactly (made the lentils in my instant pot). I used two full cups of the salsa. I used to make lentils all the time and I guess I must have forgotten about them, but now that they have made me so popular, we are reunited and in love!
I usually love Deb’s recipes. But this one didn’t have much flavor. I think I much prefer the other lentil recipes that Deb has. However, it is healthy and a great vegetarian dish. :)
Great salad! This was fast, easy, tasty and filling. I will continue to make this one.
Deb- I don’t know if you have gone to Vancouver on your book tour.
When you do go, pick up a box of Canadian grown lentils at Flourist. Steam them-the only way I cook them now, and when you arrive home, make the Flourist salad rceipe on the back of the box.
I will have so little time, perhaps I can beg someone to pick them up for me (will reimburse, of course!)
This lentil salad is MY FAVORITE as well! It is a brilliant, scrumptious vegetarian delight that I made this week and have so enjoyed, and enjoyed sharing. The only modification I made was eliminating the hot sauce and adding about 6 very thin slices of pickled jalapenos instead of the 1 or 2 fresh ones. Love the copious cilantro in this salad and love so many of your recipes!
We had a tomato testing today at our community garden in Austin along with dishes we made from our harvests. I made this salad (with the Trader Joe’s bruschetta topping). Lots of requests for the recipe. So good! Made with Juliet tomatoes which are overflowing on my kitchen counters! Thanks for the inspiration Deb. Love your recipes
This sounds wonderful, Deb! I’m in rural southwest France where at this season we have a glut of huge, juicy, wonderfully flavourful tomatoes. Do you think they would work or are the tinned tomatoes best?
I love your recipes and use them often. Thank you!
I need more lentils in my life and after making this I will definitely do just that! I did make a couple modifications:
I made my own roasted salsa, as I can’t eat raw garlic and onions without consequences. I actually don’t put any onions or garlic in my salsa anyway, as it really tastes great without it since I use many different chiles. So anyway, I didn’t even miss the onions or garlic in this dish!
I cooked my own lentils (onions and garlic went into the water with the lentils to get some flavor there).
Had some roasted corn in the fridge that needed using and I threw that into the salad (about a cup) – yum!
This was so very good, I highly recommend it.
Has anyone tried this with red lentils? Trying to go through what I have in my pantry, but I’m a lentil newbie and am not sure what the difference in each kind is! Thanks :)
Hi Hayley – red lentils tend to fall apart when cooked and probably won’t hold their shape as well as the other lentils suggested in the recipe will, unless you’ve got some whole ones in your pantry. Having said that, you could try undercooking them slightly and see how you go? Or get the rest of the salad together before gently folding the red lentils through.
Whichever way you do it, they’ll probably still taste great, however the texture will be different.
Hi!! Can I make this w an immersion blender instead of a food processor? Mine is broken!