The BEST Lentil Salad Recipe! - Gimme Some Oven (2024)

FAQs

How to make and eat lentils? ›

To prepare lentils, first rinse them in a strainer. Next, place one cup of lentils in a large pot with 2½ cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain well.

Le Puy green lentil is a small, mottled, slate-gray/green lentil of the Lens esculenta puyensis (or L. culinaris puyensis) variety. In the US, this type of lentil may be grown and sold as French green lentils or Puy lentils.

At the very least, add some salt and pepper to your canned lentils after draining, but they're even tastier with a bright squeeze of lemon juice to lift them up. A bit of chopped onion or pepper goes a long way. If pressed for time, stir some salsa into your lentils or top with a flavorful southern chow-chow.

Bring to a boil, cover tightly, reduce heat and simmer until they are tender. For whole lentils, cook time is typically 15-20 minutes. For split red lentils, cook time is typically only about 5-7 minutes. Be sure to season with salt after cooking – if salt is added before, the lentils will become tough.

Think more like you're cooking pasta- you just need significantly more water than lentils. You can also use broth instead of adding an extra layer of flavor. I like adding a bay leaf, an onion cut in half, and a clove of garlic to add flavor to the lentils.

Lentils have plenty of folate, iron and vitamin B1, which also support your heart health. Lentils may be associated with a lower risk of heart disease, by lowering bad cholesterol and blood pressure. One study found that eating lentils led to greater reductions in blood pressure than eating chickpeas, peas or beans.

Black Lentils (Beluga lentils)

Best of all, black lentils are the most nutritious variety of lentils, boasting the highest amount of protein, plus high levels of calcium, potassium, and iron.

A variety of green lentils, French lentils are about one-third the size of regular lentils. With a slightly greenish-grey hue, they may appear more akin to gravel than a legume, and boast a peppery flavor. The thing that really makes French lentils stand apart though is their texture.

There is no need to soak green lentils, but doing so will reduce their cooking time. In either case, they should be rinsed, before boiling one part lentils to three parts water for 40 minutes or until tender.

Summary: Baking soda is mostly used to soften the beans faster and decrease cooking time by increasing pH. In some scenarios, it has been shown to aid in breaking down gas-causing sugars as well. Higher concentrations of baking soda and/or pressure cooking may be needed to make this latter effect significant.

What to pair with lentils? ›

If you have a few root vegetables hanging out in your fridge, those are also great with lentils, like in this warm lentil and root vegetable salad with parsnips and carrots. Lentils are particularly nice with cheese, as in this grilled halloumi and lentil salad.

Do you rinse canned lentils? It is not necessary to rinse canned lentils before cooking, but you can rinse them by emptying them into a strainer and under cold water. This can help to remove some of the sodium content from the liquid around the beans.

Honestly, the best way to tell if lentils are done are to taste them. They should be tender to the bite, with some varieties of lentils being a bit more firm and others more soft. That said, if you would like your lentils to be softer, just simmer them a few minutes longer until they reaches your desired consistency.

If you don't want dry, hard lentils, make sure to keep a little liquid in the pot! You can always add a little more if the water is evaporating faster than they cook. Skip the soak. Lentils definitely don't need any soaking before they're cooked.

Note: Dried out lentil varieties don't need to be soaked. 1 cup of dried lentils yields 2 1/2 cups of cooked lentils. Serving size per person is ¼ cup.

Lentils are a nutritious food that's low-fat and high in protein and fiber. While they make a delicious addition to a soup, stew or salad, you should not eat them raw. No matter which type of lentils you buy, you can easily cook them by boiling your lentils in water on the stove.

If you have a few root vegetables hanging out in your fridge, those are also great with lentils, like in this warm lentil and root vegetable salad with parsnips and carrots. Lentils are particularly nice with cheese, as in this grilled halloumi and lentil salad.

Soaking naturally deactivates the harmful compounds and activates all the goodness of the seed and increases its nutritional value manifold. The process of soaking removes the gas-causing elements from the lentils. While legumes contain complex oligosaccharides, a type of complex sugar responsible for bloating and gas.

Lentils do not require it but can be soaked in order to reduce cooking time by about half. Before cooking, rinse lentils in cold water, pick over to remove debris or shrivelled lentils, then drain.