Ingredients

Check off ingredients as you go

For 6 servings

• 300g (1½ cups) black lentils
• 3 tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
• 2 cucumbers
• 2 avocados
• 1 red onion
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

For the vinaigrette

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt, pepper
• A few sprigs of fresh chives

If you change the number of serving, consider adjusting cooking times!

1. Rinse the black lentils thoroughly, then place them in a pot of water (no salt - it would prevent proper cooking) for 25 minutes or until tender. (Generally use 3 times the volume of water as lentils, as they’ll absorb quite a bit).
2. While the lentils are cooking, mince the red onion into very small dice (I make thin slices and cut them the other way) and place in a small bowl with the vinegar.
3. In a salad bowl, cut the tomatoes, cucumbers, and avocados into dice. In a small bowl, mix all the vinaigrette ingredients except the chives.
4. Rinse the lentils under cold water and drain well, add salt, then add them to the salad bowl along with the red onion.
5. Pour the vinaigrette over, mix well, and serve chilled with a bit of fresh chives snipped at the last moment.

Tips and Variations

• You can vary the diced raw vegetables based on what you have (carrots, kohlrabi), swap the onion for shallot, and replace the chives with basil, parsley, or cilantro.
• If you’re not bothered by the taste of raw onion, you can skip the marinade, but the onion is more digestible this way, the marinade adds a lot of character to this salad, and everyone at my house preferred it with.
• You can add quinoa to this salad!
• If you want to add cheese, crumbled feta will pair beautifully with this salad.