Moroccan Lentil Salad Recipe

Moroccan lentil salad

I bought some beautiful English green lentils and have been dying to make something with them. This ended up being the perfect use for them. The other night I had my girlfriends over for wine and dinner, something we try to do once a week. I love to have my girls over, and for years we have been meeting up and making dinner together. More often then not, we end up looking up some great vegan cookie recipe to make from one of our favorite vegan cookbooks.  This time, there were no desserts, but the Moroccan lentil salad was amazingly good.

I knew I wanted to make a lentil salad of some sort, just not sure where I wanted to go from there. I boiled some lentils earlier in the day to save on time. Then I rummaged through my fridge and cupboards for a little inspiration for my lentil salad. I stumbled upon some Brussels sprouts, kale, spinach, shallots, Greek yogurt, and some goat cheese. This combined with some good spices was all I needed to make this dish take off. My friend Pegah came over before the rest of the girls and started to help me look through the cupboard for some spices that would pair well in the yogurt dressing. She suggested cinnamon and cumin. I already considered a hint of cumin for this dressing, but cinnamon? Why not! The combination of spices gave this dish the “Moroccan” appeal it was craving. Try to explore with different types of lentils and vegetables to make this dish your own.

Ingredients

• 1 cup English green lentils, cooked and drained (I boiled my lentils with 2 stems of fresh thyme, and 1 bay leaf)
• 1 cup green lentils, cooked and drained, (boiled with 2 stems of fresh thyme, and 1 bay leaf)
• 5 shallots, diced
• 2 cups of Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
• Two large handfuls fresh cilantro
• Basil oil
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• Dash of cinnamon
• Dash of cumin
• Dash of red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Dash of garlic powder
• Goat cheese
• Handful of kale, diced
• Spinach

Directions

1. Boil lentils in a large pot, separately with bay leaf and thyme twigs
2. Reduce to simmer and cook until tender, about 30-40 minutes
3. Drain and pick out bay leaves and thyme twigs, set aside
4. Drizzle some olive oil into a frying pan and toss in half of your diced shallots and sauté them until translucent and slightly browned and caramelized
5. Add thinly sliced Brussels sprouts to sauteed shallots and add a little basil oil to the pan along with a dash of garlic powder, dash of crushed red pepper, and sea salt to taste, sauté for a couple of minutes
6. Add cooked lentils to stir fry, mix over heat for a couple of minutes
7. Add diced kale to stir fry, then turn off stove
8. Pour sauteed Brussels sprout lentil mix into medium size bowl and set aside
9. Using the same pan, add some olive oil and basil oil, along with the other half of your diced shallots,  slightly caramelize shallots, about five minutes over a medium heat
10. Mix in caramelized shallots to Brussels sprout lentil stir fry
11. Top off with pinched off pieces of goat cheese

Moroccan Dressing

• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• Light drizzle of honey
• 2 handfuls of cilantro
• Dash of cinnamon
• Dash of cumin
• Dash of garlic powder
• Olive oil
• Basil oil

Directions

1. Puree all ingredients in a food processor
2. Spoon lentil stir fry over a bed of fresh spinach with a drizzle of Moroccan yogurt dressing

Serves 3 to 4