Real Foodie Rach

This recipe was inspired by Sabrina Modelle’s Greek Pasta Salad Recipe, and boasts hearty black beluga (also called caviar) lentils gently tossed with crunchy fresh vegetables, crumbled feta, and a tangy olive oil-lemon dressing, making for a beautiful, rounded out salad with tons of health benefits. It’s great for meal prep, too- just omit the tomatoes and dressing until just before serving.

You can serve this salad on a bed of tender leafy greens, alongside lamb, kebabs or meatballs, or just enjoy it all by itself! It also makes a great side dish to bring to potlucks or cookouts. To make it dairy-free, simply omit the feta.

If you want to go one step further and sprout your lentils before cooking them, check out my easy how-to for doing that here. Lentils sprout quickly, so this is a great legume for beginner sprouting!

Pro Tip:

Double your batch of the dressing and keep it in the fridge for other salads during the week. It also makes a great lemon-y marinade for fish!

Mediterranean Black Lentil Salad Recipe

A bright lentil salad with crunchy fresh vegetables and a tangy olive oil-lemon dressing! Inspired by Sabrina Modelle's Greek Pasta Salad Recipe.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Mediterranean

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the lentils:

• 1 cup black beluga lentils, soaked overnight or sprouted
• 3 cups filtered water
• 1 Tbsp sea salt

For the salad:

• 3 medium red sweet peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 red onion, quartered and thinly sliced
• 3 small Persian cucumbers, halved and sliced into 1/4" slices (or 1 English cucumber)
• 1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 4 oz feta cheese, cubed or crumbled
• 1/3 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped

For the dressing:

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2-3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (from 1-2 lemons)
• 1 tsp lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

Instructions

 

• Place your soaked or sprouted lentils in a medium sauce pan with water covering them by about 1". Generously salt the water, stir and bring to a boil.
• Turn down the heat and simmer the lentils for 10-15 minutes, or until they reach your desired texture. For a firmer texture, cook them less; for a softer texture, cook them slightly longer.
• Once your lentils are done, immediately drain off the water and place them in a medium size mixing bowl. Set aside.
• Make the dressing by tossing all the ingredients (1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tsp lemon zest, 2-3 Tbsp lemon juice, 1-2 minced garlic cloves, 1 Tbsp chopped parsley, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper) into a jar and shaking it to combine. Set this aside as well.
• Quarter and thinly slice the red onion. Set the slices in a bowl of filtered water with a little salt and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prep the rest of your fresh ingredients: seed and chop the sweet peppers, chop up the cucumber, halve the olives and grape tomatoes, and chop the parsley. Add all of this to your lentils and crumble the feta on top.
• If you're making this salad ahead of time and plan to eat it over several days, hold off on adding the tomatoes and dressing until just before serving. Otherwise, dress and toss the salad, and add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Keyword greek, lemon, lentil salad, lentils, olive oil, summer, vegetarian

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

What are some of your favorite lentil dishes? Comment below!