Greek Lentil Salad

I eat lentils in soup and straight up (shout out to Trader Joe’s cooked black lentils) but this was my first lentil salad.  Inspired by my friend Sarah who mentioned she was going home to eat one and listed a few of the ingredients.  Since there was feta and cucumber I went the Greek route.  I only had red lentils and figured as they turn to mush in soup they would not be ideal; so I went out and got ahold of some standard brown lentils. 

Here’s what I did:

Cook your lentils:
I added 1 cup of lentils to 1.5 cups of boiling water.  I cooked for 2 minutes and then reduced the heat so it would simmer and cooked it for another 45 minutes.   

Prepare Dressing:

In a large bowl or tupperware that will hold the entire salad slice up some shallots (garlic or onion works too) and sprinkle with oregano and salt.  Juice half a lemon over this and a little bit of red wine vinegar; whisk together.  Continue whisking while drizzling in about 3/4 cups of good olive oil.  Taste.  if it tastes too sour, add more olive oil.  Likewise if it is too oily, add more lemon juice. 

Prepare vegetables:      

Slice up most of a pint of grape tomatoes and add to bowl with dressing.  Seed and slice a medium sized cucumber and add along with 2 sliced carrots and a good handful of crumbled feta.  I went for equal amounts so ideally each bite would include every ingredient.  I'm not a huge fan of raw onion so did not include it but a little red onion might be good too.  Stir all the vegetable so they are well coated with the dressing.

Add cooked lentils and stir again.  Refrigerate and enjoy!  It was darn tasty and only improved with some refrigerator time. 

I love a Greek salad wrap so next time I make this I will try it in a wrap with romaine lettuce and whole wheat pitas or tortillas.