French Lentil Salad with Goat Cheese

Blogging Marathon #26: Week 2/ Day 2
Theme: Salads & Soups
Dish: Lentil Based - French (Puy) Lentil Salad

Today's salad has "Lentil" as the star ingredient and one of my favorite lentils in salads happens to be French Lentils aka Puy lentils. These lentils look very similar to whole masoor dal, but are greenish with spots. They don't fall apart and still have a good bite when cooked which is perfect for Salads. 

Today's salad is inspired from a recipe that I received in my mailbox from Everyday Food. Recipe was actually for roasted vegetable salad with french lentils, but what caught my attention was the use of goat cheese. I've tasted goat cheese a few times, but never bought it myself. So I picked a small log of goat cheese on my recent grocery shopping and make this hearty & delicious salad. Goat cheese is creamy and has a tart taste to it.

I kept the dressing very simple with just red wine vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard and some agave for sweetness. 

Ingredients:

For the Salad:

French Lentils (Puy Lentils) - ½cup
Garlic - 2 clove, finely minced
Cucumber - ¼cup, chopped
Tomato - 1 small, seeds removed and diced
Mixed Greens - 2cups
Sliced Almonds - 3tbsp, toasted
Goat cheese - 1oz. crumbled

For the Dressing:
Red wine vinegar - 3tbsp
Dijon Mustard - 1tsp
Agave Nectar or Honey - 1tbsp (or as per taste)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 3-4tbsp
Salt and Pepper - as per taste

Method:

• Cook the Lentils: Add 2cups water to the lentils along with the minced garlic. Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer covered until the lentils are cooked through and the water is absorbed, about 25-30 minutes.
• Make the Dressing: Whisk vinegar, mustard and agave. Then slowly stream in olive oil, whisking continuously, to form a thick uniform dressing. Season with salt and pepper.
• Make the Salad: Combine all the ingredients, top with the lentils, goat cheese and drizzle with the dressing. Enjoy!!

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked up today for BM# 26.