Lentil Rice Salad
8 ounces lentils
2 cups veggie broth or 2 bay leaves and water
1 cup brown rice
optional: slightly cooked veggies such as carrots, zucchini, onion, celery, etc.
optional: 1 can diced tomatoes w/ green chilis
Chili Dressing: (can adjust heat levels if you like it spicy!)
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 clove minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin dash pepper
Cook lentils in broth or water. Drain off any extra that is not absorbed.
In a separate pot, cook brown rice in 2 1/2 cup liquid. Cool each, and mix with optional veggies (its nice when they are grilled).
Mix Chili Dressing ingredients well.
Combine rice, lentils and veggie mix with the chili dressing. This is one that gets better as it sits. Serve cold or slightly warmed.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I made this for an end-of-semester class potluck, and everyone who tried it said that it was great! (I thought so too)
I used half regular green lentils and half blue (aka French) lentils. For the dressing, I reduced the amount of oil to just over 1/4 cup, but kept the other ingredients at the same amount...and it was WAAAY too vinegar-y! I think the proportion of oil to vinegar must be closer to the originally prescribed amounts to taste right...
...but I managed to fix it by mixing in a bit more sauteed veggies (carrots, zucchini, tomato, and green onion), and adding some sugar AND extra acid, in the form of grapefruit juice and lime juice (about 1/2 of a gf and 1/4 of a lime, respectively)...and I think I added a bit more of the spices, too. and as I said, in the end, it was great!
I think next time, I'll reduce the oil to perhaps 1/2 cup, and cut back on the vinegar as well, making up the difference in volume with vegetable broth or somesuch.
oh yes, and it really DOES get better the longer it sits! This makes great leftovers, and it makes a tangy and delicious sandwich filler as well!
mmmmmmm. i made a full recipe, but without veggies, just lentils, rice, pine nuts and the dressing. i used a little over 1/4 cup oil a little olive and some grapeseed. the vinegar flavor was a little strong to start, but it's really good now that it's a couple days old. the recipe makes a big amount, but it seems to keep well in the fridge, and it's so yummy!
I made this yesterday and it's been lunch & dinner for two days straight now, and it really does get better with time! So yummy!
Great success!! I need to find a better olive oil because my bf always said the one I use is way too strong.
Mods:
used 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/2 cup red wine vinegar (probably used more red wine since bf hates my olive oil :) )
almost a tablespoon of cumin (yes its a fav here)
cut up fresh tomatoes
cucumber
My bf had it for dinner warm and lunch the next day cold.
Wow.
This time I baked yam and parsnip, sauteed celery and red onion, adding green onion as well.
In short : I doubled the lentils and rice, (cooking with water only), tripled the dressing, (less salt, more cumin), used the same oils as in my previous post.
Again, this is a wonderful and versatile dish.
I really like this one!
I made a full batch, which makes an incredible amount!
Since I only cook for me, next time I will probably quarter it.
I used carrots, zucchini, onions, and celery sauteed in oil for a while til they were just tender.
I also used a can of diced tomatoes with roasted red pepper.
Next time I will drain the tomatoes a bit because they added a little too much liquid.
I used extra chili powder because I like things spicy!
I can't wait to share this one with my non-veg friends.
Thanks, lucidanne!
This was very interesting and quite good. I made a few modifications because I was missing some ingredients. I used a can of black beans instead of lentils, and made just 1/2 C brown rice. I also used only 1/4 C olive oil, and had 1/4 C (total) of red wine + white wine + apple cider vinegars (I was running really low on vinegars). Veggies were onion, broccoli, spinach, jalapenos, tomatos, and corn, so that plus the excellent dressing made it rather southwestern-y. I think I didn't need the whole vinaigrette for the small amount of beans and rice I had, but it was still good, just a little strong. Next time I'll make the full recipe.
I made this tonight with long grain brown rice and brown lentils. For veggies, celery, zucchini and onion. I think it'd also be yummy with roasted red peppers, or the called for fire roasted tomatoes. For the dressing I used 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/8 cup garlic chili flax oil, scant teaspoon of salt and heaping 1/4 tsp of cumin, leaving the rest of the recipe the same. Delightfully delicious and fabulously flavourful! :) I'm making this for the potluck that I will attend this weekend with the addition of something red. I think I'll make up a double recipe of the dressing so that it has a few days to become even more flavourful! My whole family enjoyed it.
About how much lentils is this equivalent to in cups? I buy mine in bulk. I really want to try this!
1 cup lentils.
*i made this w/ red lentils and it didnt turn out so great, so i would recommend green or brown lentils.
About how much lentils is this equivalent to in cups? I buy mine in bulk. I really want to try this!
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