Greek Lentil Salad

This is a great salad, side dish, or even a main dish served with Greek pitas or a crusty French bread.

Salad:

• 1 cup dried puy or French lentils

• 1 cup red onion diced

• 1 red bell pepper seeded and diced

• 15 Kalamata olives pitted and cut into quarters

• ¼ cup mint chopped

Rinse lentils and place in a sauce pan. Add water and cover lentils by 2". Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmer until lentils are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and drain immediately. Place lentils in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients to bowl and set aside.

Dressing:

• 1/3 cup olive oil

• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar

• 2 cloves garlic minced

• 1 tsp cumin

• salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together, pour over salad and toss ingredients together. Let salad stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning and acid balance by adding more vinegar if needed.

Garnish:

• ¾ cup feta cheese crumbled

• ¼ cup mint chopped

Top salad with cheese and mint before serving.  Serve this salad at room temperature. 

Serves 6.