Double Lentil Salad
Author Notes: This is an attempt to be both tasty and super healthy.... and also colourful and springlike. Its a really simply salad intended to be a workaday lunch, in part inspired by Ethiopian wat-- I've used some of those gorgeous globular bright orange lentils and added some berbere spice mixture. You can see in the picture that I served it on injera-- the slightly sour Ethiopian crepe-like bread-- but this salad is also great on a bed of green leaves, or next to a fried egg. Enjoy! - nogaga
Serves 4
- 1 cup gorgeous globular bright orange lentils (more formally called "football lentils")
- 1 cup Puy lentils
- 2 bay leaves, fresh if you've got
- 1/2 bunch garlic ramps
- 2 carrots, well scrubbed
- 1 white onion
- 2 teaspoons berbere spice mix
- 1 teaspoon salt
- black pepper
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- In two separate pots, cook the two types of lentils separately, each with a bay leaf, each till they are fully cooked but not more.
- While they are cooking, prepare vinaigrette in a large enough bowl: whisk and emulsify the olive oil, wine vinegar and berbere spice. Allow to mellow and meld.
- Chop the garlic ramps and white onion into medium sized pieces, and mix into the vinaigrette. Scrub and chop the carrots into similarly sized pieces, place in a snall bowl and cover with boiling water.
- When the lentils are cooked and while they are still steaming, add them and the slightly softened carrots to the vinaigrette and mix till all the ingredients are well acquainted ;) Add salt and pepper as desired. This salad is best served warm or room temperature. Bon Apetit!
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Dirt Cheap Dinner

over 1 year ago nogaga
Hi Paige L,
Thanks for asking this question.
This is a very flexible recipe. You could replace the garlic scapes with scallions and the berbere spice mix with some hot paprika, cumin and a dash of allspice.
I hope you enjoy it!
over 1 year ago Paige L.
From the picture, I wanted to give this one a shot. But at least two of the ingredients are foreign concepts: garlic ramps and berbere spice mix. Are their substitutes for those two that one could easily find?
over 1 year ago nogaga
Hi Paige L!
Thankks for your question. This is a very flexible recipe. You could replace teh scapes with scallions and the spice mix with hot parika, cumin and a pinch of allspice and I think it would be just as good.
I hope you enjoy it!