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omnomnomI made this salad for supper tonight, as I do quite often in the summer, and it occurred to me that I could also post it here. My version is a slight evolution (or more accurately devolution?) of this 2008 Canadian Living recipe. I also use the dressing/vinaigrette on normal salads.
Accessibility: requires some chopping of the red pepper and shaking/stirring of the dressing; my version has abandoned the garlic, fresh mint, and parsley of the original in the interests of making the recipe faster and easier; the pepper needs to be cut into bite-sized pieces and the feta crumbled, but in North America, at least, you can get the feta pre-crumbled if you want.
Dietary notes: this is vegetarian, depending on your attitude toward cheese and the type of feta you have (some is made with vegetable rennet). You could omit the feta to make it vegan, although I've never tried it and I suspect it would be somewhat boring.
Ingredients: Vinaigrette
3 tbsp/45 mL red wine vinegar
3 tbsp/45 mL olive oil
1/4 tsp/1 mL ground coriander
1/2 tsp/2 mL dried mint*
1/4 tsp/1 mL each salt and pepper
* I use peppermint teabags as my source of mint; this amount is about half a teabag (but I usually just use the whole thing these days for a slightly mintier salad. YMMV!).
Ingredients: Salad
1/2 cup/125 mL uncooked long-grained rice*
1/2 cup/125 mL dry brown/green/puy lentils
1 red bell pepper, cut into 3/4 inch/2 cm-ish pieces
1/3–1/2 cup/100–125 g crumbled feta cheese
Pine nuts
Optional: minced parsley, dill, or cilantro, however much you want
* I have successfully used both brown and white basmati for this, but never any other type of rice. I'm sure others would be fine, though!
Directions:
Cook rice and lentils (separately). This can be done ahead - ideally the rice should have time to cool. I usually do the rice an hour or so ahead and stick it in the fridge while I cook the lentils, which I then rinse under cold water to cool off. Cut up red pepper and parsley/dill/cilantro if using.
Pour vinaigrette ingredients into some kind of bowl or vessel (I have a small vinaigrette cruet with measurements on the side and a pouring top that seals for shaking and it is amazing for this. Glass jars with lids are also ideal). Stir a bit to dissolve salt.
In a large bowl, combine rice (fluffing as necessary), lentils, red peppers, and fresh herb if using. If not using pre-crumbled feta, crumble feta into bowl. Vigorously shake or stir vinaigrette to combine ingredients, dump immediately over salad. Stir.
Serve with around 1 tbsp/15 mL pine nuts sprinkled over the top. Makes around 3 meal-sized servings.
Accessibility: requires some chopping of the red pepper and shaking/stirring of the dressing; my version has abandoned the garlic, fresh mint, and parsley of the original in the interests of making the recipe faster and easier; the pepper needs to be cut into bite-sized pieces and the feta crumbled, but in North America, at least, you can get the feta pre-crumbled if you want.
Dietary notes: this is vegetarian, depending on your attitude toward cheese and the type of feta you have (some is made with vegetable rennet). You could omit the feta to make it vegan, although I've never tried it and I suspect it would be somewhat boring.
Ingredients: Vinaigrette
3 tbsp/45 mL red wine vinegar
3 tbsp/45 mL olive oil
1/4 tsp/1 mL ground coriander
1/2 tsp/2 mL dried mint*
1/4 tsp/1 mL each salt and pepper
* I use peppermint teabags as my source of mint; this amount is about half a teabag (but I usually just use the whole thing these days for a slightly mintier salad. YMMV!).
Ingredients: Salad
1/2 cup/125 mL uncooked long-grained rice*
1/2 cup/125 mL dry brown/green/puy lentils
1 red bell pepper, cut into 3/4 inch/2 cm-ish pieces
1/3–1/2 cup/100–125 g crumbled feta cheese
Pine nuts
Optional: minced parsley, dill, or cilantro, however much you want
* I have successfully used both brown and white basmati for this, but never any other type of rice. I'm sure others would be fine, though!
Directions:
Cook rice and lentils (separately). This can be done ahead - ideally the rice should have time to cool. I usually do the rice an hour or so ahead and stick it in the fridge while I cook the lentils, which I then rinse under cold water to cool off. Cut up red pepper and parsley/dill/cilantro if using.
Pour vinaigrette ingredients into some kind of bowl or vessel (I have a small vinaigrette cruet with measurements on the side and a pouring top that seals for shaking and it is amazing for this. Glass jars with lids are also ideal). Stir a bit to dissolve salt.
In a large bowl, combine rice (fluffing as necessary), lentils, red peppers, and fresh herb if using. If not using pre-crumbled feta, crumble feta into bowl. Vigorously shake or stir vinaigrette to combine ingredients, dump immediately over salad. Stir.
Serve with around 1 tbsp/15 mL pine nuts sprinkled over the top. Makes around 3 meal-sized servings.