Continuing with the inexpensive, yet highly flavorful and delightful bean salad theme, today’s post features a black bean and lentil salad with an incredible cumin vinaigrette. Like my previous bean salad recipe, this one calls for just a few simple ingredients. You may actually have them all on hand right now.
The Recipe
If you search for “lentil salad” online, you’ll be presented with millions of results. Literally. Millions. When considering this dish, I searched this term and found a post put out by The Garden Grazer that described an easy, yet somewhat elegant lentil dish that includes black beans, lentils, red onion, tomatoes, red bell pepper, parsley, and an extremely tasty looking cumin vinaigrette. I followed the recipe almost to the letter, but I have to admit that I added some more flavor and love to the vinaigrette. If there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s build a proper vinaigrette.
The reason I’ve been looking into eating more lentils is because I recently discovered that they’re a secret superfood, meaning, when people think of superfoods, pretty much no one thinks of the mighty lentil. They really should because lentils are low in sodium and saturated fat and are high in potassium, fiber, folate, and polyphenols. It’s these polyphenols that matter most. They’re a plant chemical that offers antioxidant activity. Antioxidants have positive effects on chronic diseases and can reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. If that’s not enough to win someone over, I’m not sure what would be.
This is a hearty bean and lentil salad. It’s chunky. It’s got bulk. Laura and I added it to our more traditional garden salad. We regularly eat garden salads and I’ve been lately preparing dishes that would go well with them; bean salads, pasta salads, potato salads, and more. These more robust additions add heft and do a good job of filling my belly. I like that a lot.
The favors in today’s dish are stellar. Besides all the vegetables and legumes, the most noticeable ingredient is the cumin in the vinaigrette. For this vinaigrette, I used lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, Italian seasoning (dried herbs), cumin, and a few other things. The cumin stands out because it’s so distinctive. It rounds out the entire dish and I think you’ll love it.
Ingredients
Serves: 6
For the Salad
1 Cup Dry Lentils
1 Cup Dry Black Beans (or one 12-ounce can of beans, rinsed)
1 Red Bell Pepper, Diced
1/2 Large Red Onion, Diced
2 Large Plum Tomatoes, Diced
1 Cup Fresh Parsley, Chopped
For the Vinaigrette
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Dried Italian Seasoning
1 Teaspoon Garlic, Minced
Cook the Lentils & Beans
The ratio for lentils to water is 1:3, meaning, you’ll need three cups of water to every cup of lentils you plan on cooking. So for this dish, you’ll need to bring three cups of water to a boil in a medium sized saucepan on your stovetop. Then, add in the lentils and let cook for 20 minutes. You can reduce the heat to medium once the water begins to boil. The trick is to avoid overcooking the lentils. These things tend to become mushy when cooked too long and you don’t want that. They’re better when kept “al dente,” if you will.
When finished, drain any excess water from the lentils and set aside to cool.
If you’re using canned black beans, simply rinse the beans and add them to the lentils. If you’d like to cook your own dried beans, it’ll take you about an hour and a half. To do so, add the beans to a medium sized saucepan and fill the pot with water so it’s about two inches above the beans; at least four cups of water. Then, bring the water to a boil over high heat on your stovetop. Once the water is boiling, turn off the heat and let everything sit for an hour. Then, turn the heat back on so the water boils again and then reduce the heat to medium and let the beans cook for around a half hour or just until tender. Like the lentils, don’t overcook the beans. Al dente is the way to go. When finished, drain any excess water and then add the beans to the lentils.
Make the Vinaigrette
Add the lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, mustard, cumin, salt, black pepper, seasoning, and garlic to a medium sized bowl and whisk together well.
Assemble the Salad
To a large bowl add the red bell pepper, onion, tomatoes, and parsley.
After that, add the vinaigrette to the bowl and stir everything together well.
Add the Lentils, Beans, Plate, & Serve
Finally, add the lentils and beans to the bowl and mix everything together well. Season to taste, divide between bowls, and serve. Enjoy!
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