Bright Lentil Salad with Apples, Fennel, and Herbs

RECIPE: Bright Lentil Salad with Apples, Fennel, and Herbs
Lentil Salad with Fennel, Apple, and Herbs

Lentil Salad with Fennel, Apple, and Herbs

This is a bright, hearty, and optimistic salad. Admittedly, it’s also a total knock-off of my go-to dish at my favorite French restaurant in London, La Petite Maison, which specializes in taking Provençal peasant food and reinventing it at the height of sophistication. The salad is simple, but unexpected: firm little du Puy lentils, finely diced apple and fennel, some bright herbs (I use Greek basil and fresh thyme), and a very fresh, loose vinaigrette made from olive oil and cider vinegar. It’s nice to know that some of the most basic food—a fruit, a vegetable, and the lowly, humble lentil—can come together in something unexpected and above the ordinary. It’s like a Cinderella salad.

Excerpted from my weekly column French in a Flash on Serious Eats.  Bon app!

Bright Lentil Salad with Apples, Fennel, and Herbs
serves 4

Lentil Salad with Fennel, Apple, and HerbsINGREDIENTS

  • 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 medium fennel, finely diced
  • 1 apple (recommended: Pink Lady), peeled and finely diced
  • 8 ounces baby plum tomatoes, finely diced
  • 2 14.5-ounces cans of du Puy lentils, drained and rinsed
  • 1 tablespoons fresh thyme
  • 2 tablespoons fresh basil

PROCEDURE

In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper until the sugar dissolves.  Add in the olive oil, and whisk until emulsified.  Add the water, and whisk to loosen.  Add the fennel, apple, and tomatoes, toss to combine, and allow to sit in the vinaigrette for 15 minutes.  Finally, add the lentils and fresh herbs, and allow to sit another 15 minutes.  Serve.print this recipe
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Categories: 30 Minutes, Cheap, Easy, Eat, French in a Flash, Recipes, Salad, Series, Soup & Salad, Vegetarian

2 Responses to Bright Lentil Salad with Apples, Fennel, and Herbs

  1. Daniel says:

    Really it was an nice recipe! I would like to try it out in my home. thanks for the superb receipe.

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