French Lentil Salad

One of my all time favorite food bloggers/writers is David Lebovitz. I first came across his work back when I was obsessively reading memoirs about living in France. He wrote a delightful little book, The Sweet Life In Paris, which I enjoyed immensely. The peak into Mr. Leibovitz’s kitchen and life in France was really intriguing to me. (FYI Another fun France/Memoir type read is I’ll Never Be French, No Matter What I Try, by Mark Greenside. It’s just plain funny.) A few years later when I got into this whole food blogging thing, I discovered Mr. Leibovitz blogs as well. (Do you think he would mind if I call him David? He seems like a pretty nice guy so I’m going to go with yes…) I checked it out, and I was hooked. In fact, I am now convinced that David is my food soul mate. A lot of his food tastes align so closely with mine, at least he certainly shares my love of a really good cocktail and BBQ! I also really like his conversational style of writing, and his Paris photos which are attractive without having that staged feel.

Naturally, I was really excited when My Paris Kitchen was published. I ordered a copyright away, received it in the mail, stuck it on my cookbook shelf, and promptly forgot about it for a while. {Hits head repeatedly, STUPID, SO STUPID!} Recently, when examining my cookbooks while trying to figure out what to make for dinner, I re-discovered My Paris Kitchen. I opened it up to browse, and promptly marked about half the recipes as TRY NOW!!!! (Yes, I actually use that many exclamation points. I’m a very enthusiastic person.) Nearly every recipe in this cookbook sounds completely amazing to me. I feel like that doesn’t happen all that often, you know?

And, I’ve actually made 6 or 7 recipes from the cookbook now, and I’ve absolutely loved every recipe I’ve tried! All I can say is I wish I had been cooking from My Paris Kitchen sooner because: Butternut Squash Crumble, Cheese Stuffed Nann, Blue Cheese Scalloped Potatoes, Caramel Pork Ribs, Mustard Chicken, and you guessed it, French Lentil Salad…. 

Oh, my goodness this French Lentil Salad! (What a dressing! So simple, yet I could pour it over everything.) I like lentils a lot, but they’ve pretty much been a one trick pony for me.  All I ever make with them is sausage and lentil soup. So this new recipe really has me hooked. 

I’ve actually made this salad several times now, following the original recipe sometimes, but also with a few tweaks based on what I happen to have on hand in the kitchen. Every version has turned out great. I decided I’d share one of my versions of David’s excellent recipe with you today so you too can enjoy the wonders of lentils. Make it now and then go buy My Paris Kitchen if you haven’t already. Enjoy! 

French Lentil Salad- Serves 4-6 in a larger serving, or up to 8 with smaller portions. Adapted from My Paris Kitchen by, David Lebovitz. 

Lentils

• 1 and 1/2 cups green lentils
• 1/2  teaspoon dried marjoram
• 5 sprigs thyme
• sprinkle of kosher or sea salt
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced fine
• 1/2 onion, peeled and minced fine
• 1 rib celery, sliced thin

Dressing

• 1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper + additional to taste
• 1 and 1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt + additional to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons sweet hot stone ground mustard OR Dijon mustard and 1/16th tsp red pepper
• 1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• 1 cup toasted pecans
• 8 oz crumbled goat cheese  (optional)

1. Clean lentils throughly, and drain off any of the cleaning water. Add the lentils to a medium sized sauce pan and cover with fresh water. Add the marjoram and the thyme to the pot, along with a sprinkle of kosher or sea salt. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat, and then decrease the heat to leave the pot at a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes at a simmer, then add the diced carrot, onion, and celery to the pot. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Ideally, the lentils should be tender, but not mushy with just a touch of crunch left. When cooked drain the lentils and add them to a large bowl. Remove and stems from the thyme. Set aside. 
2. To make the dressing add the black pepper, sea salt or kosher salt, onion powder, red wine vinegar, mustard, and olive oil to a small bowl or mason jar. If using a bowl, whisk all ingredients together until well combined. If using a jar, shake together. 
3. Pour the dressing over the lentils, and add the toasted pecans to the bowl while the lentils are still warm. Mix until well combined. Add the goat cheese right before serving or once the lentils have cooled to prevent it from melting into the lentils. Add additional salt, pepper, or dressing as needed to taste. If the salad sits for a while, you may find it need additional dressing and seasoning. 

Notes: Consider making a double batch of the dressing, as the salad definitely needs redressing after it sits for a while or is refrigerated. The dressing also happens to be completely delicious on it’s own, so you  might just want extra to put on other salads! Also, in the original recipe Mr. Lebovitz suggests using walnut oil to replace 1/2 of the olive oil, which I highly recommend. It really adds to that great nutty flavor.