You don’t have to look at me like that. I know how you and most people feel about lentils. About how they’re mealy and brown and generally bland like health food pasta; about how you’ll definitely eat them but only if you have to. And how if I tried to convince you that you’d really like lentils if you could just try them this way my way that this yellow-and-muddy-purple-brown speckled thing on top despite the ambitious efforts of the bright green parsley sprinkled over it isn’t going to be the thing to make it work.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
 Nico and Louise | 2022-08-27 05:30:10 |  18,344 Views |
You really have to try this lentil-sweet potato salad
But I wish it were. This warm lentil salad is a perfect midwinter everything — a gorgeous work lunch to keep you on this side of your Resolution karma a perfect side dish for roast pork chops or sausage and my new favorite thing to crack a soft-boiled egg over. The creamy golden potatoes nestle between the perfect slices of thyme-scented lentils and the whole salad is tangy with finely chopped gherkins and minced shallots lightly pickled in red wine vinegar and a good grassy/fruity olive oil. It has a slight crunch when you bite into it.
The secret and what I feel is the secret to all great lentil salads is in the lentils themselves: they’re tiny. If you’ve only ever had mushy lentil salads I dare say you’ve been using the wrong ones. While the crumbly varieties have their uses (soups pies stews and dals) most of the smaller varieties—particularly dark green lentils de puy green-brown lenticchie and even black lentils—stay intact and retain their namesake even when cooked through. If tapioca pearls are the caviar of the pudding world these are surely the caviar of the salad universe. And if the prospect of eating caviar salad this week doesn’t appeal to you you’re probably not married to a Russian. I think this might convert you.
New: As promised in last week's chat there is finally a vegan category on this site. It's only halfway filled; if you have a favorite recipe on the site that's also vegan let me know if I missed it. (FYI: I'm skipping salads for this and the vegetarian category since most of them just are.) [Vegan Recipes on Smitten Kitchen] [Vegetarian Recipes on Smitten Kitchen]
