🥘 Ingredients
- Red Wine Vinaigrette 8 tbsp
- Cooked Lentils 2 ½ cup
- fresh soft herbs such as flat-leaf parsley 1 ½ cup
- fat garlic clove 1
- minced preserved lemon peel or medium lemon 1 tbsp
- Flaky
- Persian cucumbers or small / large English cucumber ½ oz
- large or small ripe avocado 2
- extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp
- large shallot 1
- Kosher
- pine nuts 0.67 cup
- lightly packed cups seasonal soft salad greens 2 oz
If the Red Wine Vinaigrette is too tart for your taste, add a dash of maple syrup to taste. If your avocado is ripe before you need it for this recipe, refrigerate until ready to use. If you bought cashews or almonds instead of pine nuts, roughly chop them, then toast them as listed in step 5 until toasty and golden brown. Storage: For the best leftovers, only make as much Gremolata as you need (or store leftover Gremolata with a bit of olive oil in the fridge). Store the marinated lentils with the sautéed shallot and pine nut mixture in the fridge for about 3 to 4 days, ideally without the cucumber, salad greens, and avocado. Chop the cucumber and avocado and assemble the salad as listed in the last step right before serving. Nutrition boost: Fold in a greater quantity of the seasonal salad greens, or fold in cooked quinoa for a protein boost. Or, serve the lentil salad alongside roasted cauliflower or asparagus for extra veggies. Shortcut: Skip the Gremolata and just fold in chopped fresh herbs and flaky sea salt in step 6.
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1Gather: Red Wine Vinaigrette , Cooked Lentils . For the gremolata: fresh soft herbs such as flat-leaf parsley , fat garlic clove , minced preserved lemon peel or medium lemon , Flaky sea salt, Persian cucumbers or small / large English cucumber , large or small ripe avocado , extra virgin olive oil , large shallot , Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, pine nuts , lightly packed cups seasonal soft salad greens .
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2Take the Red Wine Vinaigrette out of the fridge. If the oil has solidified, set the jar in a bowl of hot water to come to room temp. Once the vinaigrette has come back to its liquid state, whisk well. In a large bowl, toss 6 tbsp of vinaigrette with the Cooked Lentils. Marinate until you’re ready to move on to step 6.
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3While the lentils marinate, make your side salad, if you’re making one.
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4Make the Gremolata. Finely chop the herbs and add to a medium bowl. Using a grater, microplane, or garlic press, grate the garlic on top of the herbs. Add 1 tbsp of minced preserved lemon peel (or the lemon zest) and a couple pinches of flaky sea salt. Mix well to combine. Taste, adding more preserved lemon or salt as desired. Set aside.
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5Finely chop the cucumber. Tear the avocado flesh into rustic chunks with your hands, or slice into cubes. NOTE: If you’re comfortable with multitasking, you can do these tasks while the ingredients cook in step 5 instead.
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6Heat the olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Once warm, add the sliced shallot with a pinch of salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes , or until the shallot is just starting to get some color, stirring occasionally. Add the pine nuts and another pinch of salt. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring from time to time, or until the pine nuts are toasted and nicely browned.
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7Assemble: When ready to serve, add the cucumbers and salad greens to the marinated lentils. Toss to coat, adding any remaining Red Wine Vinaigrette (1-2 tbsp) to dress everything. Fold in the Gremolata, sautéed shallot and pine nut mixture, and avocado. Gently toss. Taste, adding salt/pepper as needed. Serve with your side salad, if you made one.