Warm lentil salad with feta, apple and toasted walnuts
Warm lentils in a mustard and cider vinegar dressing, salty feta, crisp apple and toasted walnuts, served with toasted country bread.
Method
- Rinse the lentils in a colander and leave to drain. Finely dice the red onion into 3 mm pieces. In the salad bowl, mix the vinegar, salt and mustard with a fork until the salt dissolves, then add the onion. It will marinate in the salted vinegar while you continue, mellowing its raw sharpness.
- Put the walnuts in a dry frying pan over a medium heat and toast for 4–5 minutes, stirring and using a timer: they should smell toasted and their skins should darken slightly. Tip onto a plate, leave to cool a little, then break roughly with your fingers.
- In the same pan over a medium heat, warm the drained lentils with the 2 tbsp water for 2 minutes, stirring gently, until steaming and the water has evaporated (or microwave, covered, for 1 minute 30 seconds). Meanwhile, pour the oil into the salad bowl in a thin stream, whisking with a fork: the dressing will turn opaque and thicken slightly. Add the pepper. Tip the hot lentils into the dressing, mix and leave for 5 minutes to absorb it.
- During this resting time, wash and core the apple and cut the flesh into 1 cm dice. Wash the parsley, dry it in a tea towel, keep the leaves and fine stalks and chop roughly. Add the apple and parsley to the warm lentils and mix, lifting from the bottom of the bowl. Taste a spoonful without feta: it should be distinctly tangy and well seasoned. If necessary, add a pinch of salt or a splash of vinegar.
- Cut 4 slices of bread, 1.5 cm thick, and toast for 2–3 minutes in the toaster, until golden. Crumble the feta into 1–2 cm pieces over the salad and scatter over the walnuts. Serve half the salad per person with 2 slices of toast each to scoop up the lentils and dressing.
Variants and their steps remain below the recipe.
Lighter version
Less feta means fewer salty, creamy mouthfuls, while cucumber adds fresh crunch alongside the apple. The less oily dressing tastes sharper and coats the lentils less generously.
- Feta or Bulgarian white cheese, 16–24% fat (250 g block) : 100 g
- Bread (baguette or country loaf) : 100 g
- Extra virgin olive oil : 30 g
- add Cucumbers 100 g (½ cucumber, cut into 1 cm dice)
In step 4, cut the cucumber into 1 cm dice and add with the apple and parsley.
In step 5, cut 3 slightly thinner slices of bread (100 g in total).
Less feta, bread and oil; cucumber keeps the salad generous and crisp. The dressing has the same flavour with a little less oil.
On your plate
Recipe
986 kcal · protein 39 g · carbs 82 g · fat 54 g
Quantities per person
- 265 g Tinned lentils (400 g tin)
- 15 g Water
- 80 g Feta or Bulgarian white cheese, 16–24% fat (250 g block)
- 100 g Apples
- 20 g Walnut kernels
- 20 g Red onions
- 7.5 g Flat-leaf parsley
- 5 g Hot Dijon-style mustard
- 7.5 g Cider vinegar
- 1 g Fine salt
- 20 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 0.25 g Ground black pepper
- 70 g Bread (baguette or country loaf)
Cooking tips
Choose a firm, tart apple to contrast with the tender lentils and salty feta. During the week, serve the salad warm as soon as step 5 is finished. For Saturday lunch, prepare it on Friday up to step 3, with the lentils dressed, and refrigerate. Also chop the parsley on Friday and store separately in a sealed container. When ready to serve, dice the apple into 1 cm pieces (it would brown and soften overnight in the dressing), add it with the parsley, then the feta and walnuts, which should be kept separately. Serve with fresh bread, without using the toaster on Saturday. Take the lentils out of the fridge 30 minutes beforehand: they taste better at room temperature than fridge-cold.
Based on French bistro lentil salad, with lentils dressed while warm in mustard vinaigrette; a house version with feta, apple and toasted walnuts.
Comments and reviews
No comments published yet.
Share your experience
Your first name will appear with your comment. No additional email is required. Comments are reviewed before publication.