Green lentil and feta cheese salad

We always try to have a couple of days a week meat-free meals so this is definitely one of our favorites. I have come up with this recipe few years back and have made it so many times since but never added the feta cheese until recently which is such a fabulous finish to the nutty lentils. Just fabulous and you should not have it any other way. I do love this roast/grilled veggies-feta combo. It’s just superb!! 👌🏼 👍🏼

I was given the green light and loads of thumbs up by my family when I’ve asked them if this recipe is good enough to go up on the blog. We absolutely love it, love it, love it and I strongly believe you will too. 😉

I have to say that this is my top comfort food. I could eat this kind of salads all day long every day for a year and still prefer it on the 366th or even 367th day 😂.

It is really healthy and pretty balanced since it is high in proteins, has got a good fiber content the the veggies which we know how good they are etc, etc…. and it’s gluten free too!! Yoop yoop!! 💃🏻 😜

Ok! Let’s just get cooking!

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Green lentil and feta cheese salad

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 350 g green lentil (organic)
• 300 g vegetables (grilled, mixed) frozen
• 150 g spinach (organic) frozen
• 150 g feta cheese
• 1 medium red onion (organic)
• 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar (organic)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 shallots (organic)
• 1 onion (organic)
• thyme fresh

Instructions

1. Cook the lentils according to pack instructions. I normally cook them 'al dente' as I like them a little crunchy rather than mushy. So, I cover them in water (water level should be about 2 cm above the lentils level). Put some salt and boil (covered) on medium fire. When the water starts boiling decrease the fire to low and cook for max 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, chop the red and white onions, the shallots put those in a pan, add about 180 ml water and some salt and pepper and cook (covered) for 10' till nice and soft. When the water has gone down, add the olive oil and cook for 2 more minutes. Switch off the heat and add 3/4 of the balsamic vinegar along with 1/2 tbsp cider vinegar.
3. While onions and lentils are cooking, in a deep frying pan put the frozen grilled veggies as well as the spinach over medium fire. They have some oil so no need to add any. When they start sizzling away, lower the fire and cook for about 10-12 minutes tossing occasionally.
4. Drain the remainder of the water from the lentils and mix with the onion and the vegetables.
5. Add some fresh thyme and the feta cheese crumbled.
6. Serve warm or cold.

Recipe Notes

I normally buy the frozen grilled veggies from Waitrose as I found, for me, they are the best combination - they have aubergine, courgette, red and yellow pepper, onion and a nice, nice taste indeed. By all means grill your own veggies and this will probably taste even more divine but if you do not have the energy and the time - have some ready bought as they are just fab.

Aslo, I sometimes have added some beets nicely roasted and instead of feta cheese I have crumble some beautiful and good quality goats cheese.

It is just delicious! 👌🏼