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Lentil Salad


Nothing like a cold filling salad on a hot summer's day.  Instead of a cold pasta salad, I made a cold Lentil Salad served over a bed of bitter greens.  It was cold and refreshing and a nice change to the routine of lunch meals.

Modifications Made:
Half bag of heavily salted brown lentils were cooked last night, drained, and left in the fridge to chill overnight.  Directly before lunch,  one cup cucumber, half cup red onion, one small red bell pepper, and two celery sticks were finely diced and tossed with lentils.  In a small bowl, quarter cup of vegetable oil, quarter cup of white vinegar, teaspoon of white sugar, half teaspoon of pepper, fourth teaspoon of mustard powder were vigorously whisked until frothy.  Mixture was tossed with lentil/vegetable mix and served immediately with crackers.  Almonds/raisins were omitted

Scaled for Likability: Great
Pasta salads are good but always disproportionate in vegetables.  Broccoli too big as compared to noodles, onions always in excess, dressing too heavily seasoned.  This lentil salad was crispy, light, and proportionally all the same size making every spoonful an even mixture of all ingredients.  Any sweetness of the dressing was offset by the bitter of the greens and tangy mustard.  Brown lentils, bright red pepper, purple and white onion, light green almost yellow celery, and a bed of green.  Very colorful.  Adding a orange and/or yellow bell pepper would rounded out all the colors.  Adding diced radishes would offer another element of crunch and a bit of zip.

Edit April 24, 2020:
Ate the remaining lentil salad for lunch.  According to the original recipe, the salad is supposed to get better with age.  A melding of flavors was not really noticed but what was noticed was the runny liquid at the bottom of the bowl and a softness to the lentils.  Neither myself or the table counterparts enjoyed the leftovers and if made again, would reduce quantities to ensure one serving was made.
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