Lentil salad with goat cheese, roasted peppers, & pickled onions
Fresh goat cheese, roasted bell peppers, and pickled onions bring delightful flavor to green lentils in this dish that can either be a vegetarian main dish or a lovely lentil salad.
This recipe is inspired from a recipe for Castelluccio lentils with tomatoes and gorgonzola in Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook Plenty. As with almost anything Ottolenghi, the bar is set pretty high, and I do highly recommend this cookbook. For my version here, I’ve adapted his recipe using roasted peppers and goat cheese plus my favorite method for quick pickling onions.
Ingredient notes:
- Lentils. Puy or Castelluccio lentils are recommended for this lentil salad since they don’t get too soggy when cooked. I had plain old green lentils on hand, and it still turned out marvelously, so use whatever you can find. The only type of lentil that really won’t work are red or yellow lentils since they break down into mush (delicious in dahl, but not here).
- When cooking lentils, one key to keep in mind is to add the salt at the end. If cooked with salt, the lentils will become tough. From what I’ve read, with salt in the water, the starch in the lentils absorb water more slowly, leaving the texture tough. On the other hand, if you really don’t like mushy lentils, a pinch of salt might help keep your lentils firm, but I haven’t tried!
- Roasted bell peppers. Oil-packed roasted bell peppers will work fine in this recipe, but if you feel like making your own, you can try out my recipe here. The flavor is typically sweeter in the homemade version!
- Goat cheese. A French classic, sold fresh or in so many ripened varieties. Here, we’re keeping it mild with a fresh goat cheese. I used Chavroux, a pyramid-shaped spreadable variety. In America, Chavrie brand is very similar. Crumbles will also work great.
- Pickled onions. Yes, it’s worth the effort, and it’s easy! This is a quick pickle. The pickled onions add a nice tang and crunch, plus they’re easier to digest than raw. Just be sure to use classic vinegar. I tried with a milder vinegar once (Melfor, a French vinegar my husband loves)…the onions didn’t pickle. This recipe calls for red wine vinegar, though classic white can work, too.
Lentil salad with goat cheese, roasted peppers, & pickled onions
A delightfully flavored salad that can be either a vegetarian main dish or a healthy side
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Pickled onions:
- 1 small red onion very thinly sliced
- 60 ml boiling water (¼ cup)
- 60 ml red wine vinegar (¼ cup)
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp sugar
- ½ tsp whole black peppercorns
Lentil salad:
- 250 g green lentils such as Puy lentils, rinsed (1 1/3 cup)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 roasted red or yellow bell pepper chopped
- ½ tsp salt or to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- 80 ml finely chopped fresh parsley (⅓ cup)
- 3 tbsp chopped chives
- 1 tsp dried dill
- 100 g fresh goat cheese (3.5 oz)
Instructions
- Pickle the onions. Put the very thinly sliced onion in a bowl and pour over the boiling water, then the red wine vinegar. Stir in 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar, and ½ tsp whole peppercorns. Make sure the onions are covered by the liquid and let stand at least 15 minutes. The onions and juice will turn pink as the onions become pickled.
- Prepare the lentils. Boil some water in a medium pot and add the lentils. The water should cover the lentils by about 3 cm (over an inch). Cook the lentils for 20-30 minutes or until just tender. Drain and place in a large mixing bowl.
- Assemble the dish. While the lentils are still hot, add 3 tbsp olive oil, the minced garlic clove, the chopped roasted red pepper, ½ tsp salt (or to taste), and ground black pepper. After the lentils cool down a little more, you can stir in the herbs. Add the goat cheese in small chunks or crumbles and stir gently to keep the pieces mostly intact. Top with some slices of pickled onion.
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