Puy Lentil Salad with Balsamic Vinegar Dressing recipe – a quick, easy and healthy salad for any time of the day.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
I recently had a request for lentil recipes. It left me a little bemused; despite the fact that we have lentils a couple of times a week (much to my oldest’s disgust), I don’t have a single recipe for them on LinsFood! I think. How is that even possible?
I aim to rectify that lapse over the course of the next few months and we shall start with this Puy Lentil Salad. Lentilles du puy (puy lentils) are a grey-green colour and fairly tiny. They have a lovely peppery taste to them, which, to me, goes well in just about any dish, to add flavour and substance.
I have this salad fairly frequently, with the odd change in the vegetables and herbs used, depending on what I happen to have at hand. It makes a quick and easy lunch, with some bread on the side, or without, if you fancy a carb free lunch. Which is not always a bad thing because carbs at lunch time always make me want to take a nap. Which I don’t do. But that’s a rant for another medium!
This Puy Lentil Salad is also a wonderful side dish, whatever the season and occasion. You can jazz it up or keep it simple, with the lentils being the main ingredient; everything else revolves around them.
Puy lentils come from Le Puy-en-Velay in the South of France. The area is formed from ancient volcanic lava, giving rise to an extremely fertile land. Apparently, puy lentils were introduced to the region by the Romans some 2000 years ago, thriving in the valley’s warm micro climate.
They also have appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) or Protected Designation of Origin status, which means, to be called a puy lentil, the grain has to be grown, harvested and packed in the Puy region. So now you know. 😉
A healthy start to the week, despite the fact that it’s a bank holiday here. Our last holiday before Christmas. 4 months without a public holiday is a looong time!
Bank holiday or not, I hope you have a lovely week ahead!
Now, shall we get our aprons on?
If you like the recipe, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! Thank you!
And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood
Lin xx
Puy Lentil Salad
Ingredients
- 200 g dried puy lentils
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 small red onion
- 2 handfuls salad leaves like lamb’s lettuce corn salad or rocket (arugula)
- 20 mint leaves
- 1 yellow capsicum bell pepper
- ¼ small cucumber
Salad Dressing
- 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp EV olive oil
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- pinch of salt
- some freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Salad Dressing
- Mix all the ingredients together and set aside.
- Rinse the lentils and cook in plenty of water for 20 minutes.
- Drain, rinse with cool water, and drain again.
- Add the salt and gently stir it in, being careful not to break the lentils up. Set aside.
- Chop and slice the vegetables as you like: the onions in rings, the tomatoes in wedges, the capsicum in strips and the cucumbers, sliced and quartered.
Let's Assemble the Salad
- Mix all the salad ingredients in a bowl along with the salad dressing and toss gently.
- Divide onto 4 plates and top with pepper if you fancy.
Great salad thanks
A pleasure, Aedan.
I love puy lentils, and this looks delicious Azlin! I like the addition of the mint leaves too 🙂
Thank you, Catherine!
What a hearty and delicious looking salad. I love working with lentils too. It is a great sub for meat any day….and nutritious too.
being a veggie,i am greatful to you for this awesome recipe
Fab recipe, thank you definitely making this. Recipe’s been printed and stuck on fridge!
Lovely, I am going to make this for dinner tonight. I have only the ready cooked lentils in a bag. Do you think that will work?
Thank you Annie, yes, that will be fine. Be gentle when mixing it up though, because they ready cooked lentils can be just a touch on the softer/mushy side.
Lovin’ the bright colors in the salad. Great post!
Thank you Antonia.
This is fantastic! Thank you for a really delicious and easy vegetarian lentil recipe!
It’s a pleasure, thanks for stopping by!