French Lentil Salad with Feta, Cranberries and Walnuts

French green le Puy lentils

Although I recently posted a lentil salad recipe, I have yet another one for you.

I very seldomly purchase the little le Puy, or French green, lentils. They aren't everywhere. So I usually buy the common brownish green ones when I’m making my German lentil recipe with sausages or a lentil and vegetable soup, or I get the yellow or red Dal lentils from the Indian grocer when I’m making Indian food or pureed lentils. But I recently saw them at Cost Plus World Market and decided to get them again.

So what’s the big deal about le Puy lentils? Well, they come from the Puy region in central France and are a bit more durable than regular green or brown lentils and therefore hold up well in salads. They are smaller and a lovelier shade of green. They aren’t everywhere, so when you find them, grab a bag.

On the back of this package of French lentils was a recipe for a salad, and while most recipes on the backs of boxes or packages rarely do anything for me (I read somewhere once that most of these recipes are never tested, so it’s no wonder!), I was intrigued by this one. I think I have a pretty good sense of what works when I read a list of ingredients. Fortunately, since my kitchen’s fairly well stocked, I had nearly all of the ingredients anyway, so I thought, what the heck?! Let’s try it.

Ingredients:

1 cup French le Puy lentils, picked through and rinsed well

2 cups water

1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 bay leaf

4 cups spinach, arugula or any type of greens

1/2 cup crumbled Feta

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1/4 cup fresh basil, sliced thin (I only had dried basil so I added it to the dressing instead, but fresh would add a whole ‘nother dimension to this salad, so I advise going fresh).

Dressing:

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tsp honey

2 tsp Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt, or to taste

1/2 tsp ground black pepper, or to taste

Directions:

Place lentils in a 2-qt heavy saucepan with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low, add the onions and bay leaf, and simmer uncovered until lentils are just tender, about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Be careful not to overcook. Strain well and place in a big salad bowl to cool. While lentils are cooking, make the dressing. Whisk everything together, while slowly drizzling in the olive oil, season with salt and pepper.

When the lentils are cool, toss them with the dressing and add the greens. Plate and garnish with feta, cranberries, walnuts and basil. Serves 4, 1-1/4 cup servings.