Green lentils are so good!
Green lentils, brown lentils, red lentils... any lentils, please bring them on! I love, they love, we all love lentils in this household. I am pretty sure it was an easy guess.
Today I was working from home, kids are still on holiday and the demands for a nice lunch were echoing high from all over the house. Green lentils salad please mummy!
Yes, of course, kiddos were hungry after a whole hour and a half of maths and science workings, and almost an hour of trampolining. They were truly starving and asked for a nice, yet quick, hearty meal.
What else can you do when you get two munchies that are super hungry and not only ask for food but nice food as well?
Well, you have to conform yourself and take the instructions up your chest and of course, start all the thinking for that nice and hearty meal straight away.
I did not only have to deliver but deliver rather fast! :-))
We are all such lentil funs, and we really love egg and all the rest so I’ve quickly come up with this dish which I wasn’t very sure how I was going to finish it off as if it’s not well seasoned could fall into the category of bland, banal food which I could not really afford to allow it to happen.
This dish, in the end, was nowhere near that bland food category and you will soon see this, how and why.
A little more about this brown and green lentils salad
The nutty taste of the brown and the green lentils with the creaminess and awesomeness of the soft pan-cooked egg it's a wonderful combo not to mention about the fresh peppery salad mix which was quite a mix and gave the dish such a powerful stand out taste as well as looks ?.
I personally love colourful food and try to always combine as many colours that the rainbow has as possible in one plate if possible ?.
I could have probably done a little better here with adding some red bell peppers but the little munchies couldn’t wait any longer so I had to be pretty quick.
In the end, I was quite pleased about not complicating it. The simplicity of this green lentils salad dish was awesome. You can taste all the ingredients individually at the same time they really blend in together beautifully.
It did come out a real treat that not only us but the kids hugely enjoyed and ate all to the very last lentil grain.
I have to say this came out such a great dish in the end packed with protein yet, no meat involved making it such a great vegetarian option. It is also gluten and wheat-free. It is one of those dishes that can never really go wrong unless left unseasoned.
Also the mixed leaves salad, I have used was a wasabi rocket, mustard, rocket, bull’s blood and watercress mix which is one of my absolute favourite mix ever in terms of a leaf salad. It is punchy and truly powerful, spicy and crisp.
To me, it is exactly what a vibrant salad should be. In combination with the lentils is exactly what life is all about.
Tips:
How to cook the perfect mushrooms for this dish?
Mushrooms, in general, can release quite a bit of water when they are cooked.
If you happen to have one of those salad spinners you could use to spin the mushrooms once sliced to take all the excess water out.
Don't worry if you don't have one just let them dry for a few minutes.
Also, one secret when cooking the mushrooms is that that they don’t release a lot of water is to cook them on a higher heat (uncovered) and not to add the salt until towards the end of the cooking.
Cooked in smaller batches it can also help. If you're having quite a bit of water in the pan when cooking the mushrooms, simply drain this into the lentils while cooking.
It will just give the lentils a little extra flavour which is quite nice.
How to cook the brown and the green lentils?
For cooking the lentils I normally measure these with a measure which can be a cup or a little bowl and then use the same cup or bowl to measure the water.
Each amount of lentils will need the same amount of water plus another 1/2. For example for 1 bowl full with lentils will be the same bowl full with water plus another half.
Pretty straight forward, right?!
Alternatives:
If you don’t have or like the rocket salad you could easily use some kale, pak choi that you could add to the mushrooms in the last 3-4 min of cooking or could cook separately and just added to the dish.
We had this with some really ripen, juicy and incredibly flavoured beef tomatoes from the garden that expressed their beauty through their sublime taste.
If you don’t have any balsamic or don't like it, simply use generously freshly squeezed lemon juice.
If you liked this lentil dish you may also like this Red lentil dhal with coconut milk and quail eggs or this Lentils, chorizo and sun-dried tomatoes, this beautiful Green lentil and feta cheese salad.
Here it comes the recipe of this very pleasing lentils and mushrooms salad dish 😉
Brown and green lentils with portobello mushrooms, wasabi rocket and watercress hearty salad
Equipment
- pan
- spatula
- chopping board
- pot
Ingredients
- 300 g portobello mushrooms
- 150 g green lentils
- 75 g brown lentils
- 1 medium red onion shredded
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 pinch red chilli fakes
- 3 beef tomatoes cut into chunks for the side salad
- 1 tbsp sweet soy sauce
- 80 ml balsamic vinegar
- 3 tbsp sweet sticky balsamic vinegar to drizzle over (optional)
- 4-5 sprigs parsley or coriander roughly chopped to garnish
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 150 g mixed leaves salad for the side fresh salad
Instructions
- Start by rinsing the lentils (mix them) and put them in a pot. Add the right amount of water (see packet instructions). Cook them for about 20-25 min or whatever the packet instructions say. (See Recipe Notes)
- Meanwhile wash the salad. Wash the mushrooms and cut these lengthways into slices. Shred the onion as well.
- Place a pan on high heat and add the sliced mushrooms. Allow them to start sizzling and add just a tiny little drizzle of sesame oil 1/2 tbsp. Reduce the heat to medium. They will soon release some water. Cook uncovered for 4-5 min tossing occasionally.
- Add the shredded onion and cook for a further 2 min tossing occasionally. Remove any water (if any) before adding the onions and drizzle a little extra sesame oil to try and caramelise the onions and mushrooms together. Just before turning the heat off drizzle the soy sauce in and cook for one more minute.
- Lentils should be almost ready by now so when ready, turn heat off, remove the lid, remove any leftover water, allow to cool for a few minutes and add the balsamic vinegar. Simply pour over the lentils and mix. Add some fresh coriander or parsley (or both).
- Cook the eggs in a pan with a little drizzle of sesame or olive oil.
- Take a serving plate or dish out and get this salad dish put together by mixing the mushrooms with the lentils. Ingo the salad leaves. Give those a good shuffle. Top your salad with the soft-cooked eggs and drizzle the sweet sticky balsamic and a sprinkle of red chilli flakes if you fancy. Here you have it. Lovely stuff.
Amanda says
Ramona I love your lentil dish! They are so earthy and meaty and go so well with the eggs too. Looks like the perfect meal to me.
Ramona says
Thank you so much Amanda, that is so true, I love lentils and they are so good for us 😉
Ivana at Blondie-ish at Kitchen says
The salad looks amazing. It never came to my mind to use lentils in a salad, I must give it a shot!
Ramona says
Thank you Ivana, oh you definitely need to give this a try 😉
Deanna says
Wow! I love this salad! It perfect dinner salad for me YUM!!!
Ramona says
Thank you Deanna ( what a lovely name ;-)) This is my perfect type of salad too 😉 It is pretty much my ideal lunch during the week 😉
Poire et Cactus says
Hi Ramona, I am very glad I stopped by... a pleasure to discover your sweet cooking little world ! 😉
Ramona says
Hi Mehdiya,
Thank you so much, yes, it is my sweet little cooking world indeed that I enjoy tremendously.? Thank you so much for stopping by and very nice 'meeting' you. Merci beaucoup ma cherie ?