Colorful Lentil salad is healthy, delicious, nutritious, and protein-rich salad. I really like this recipe because of the convenience of preparation.
The lentils are ready in less than half an hour, they don’t need to be soaked or pressure cooked.
The secret to flavoring the lentils is to season them while they are still warm so that they absorb the flavors well.
This recipe is super flexible and can be adjusted according to your taste.
This is a great option for the hot days when you don’t feel like hot food, nothing better than to prepare a protein-rich salad using grains with seasonings, vegetables, and herbs.
Lentils are rich in zinc, which helps to strengthen the immune system and are very good for treating anemia because they have a lot of iron, and in addition, their high amount of fiber improves intestinal transit and relieves constipation and belly bloating.
Although lentils are an excellent source of protein, I like to use tuna in the recipe.
Tuna has great importance in our dietary routine, because being a fatty fish, it has large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 is important in controlling cholesterol and hypertension, and helps prevent heart disease.
Tuna is also composed of vitamins and minerals that help regulate the metabolic process and strengthen the body’s cellular structures, and is an excellent source of protein.
The tuna is optional, but I believe it gives a special flavor to the salad. If you prefer a vegan recipe, don’t need to add tuna, your dish will still be a vegan recipe.
The variety of vegetables used in this colorful lentil salad make it a versatile vegan recipe.
The color of the colorful lentil salad comes through the vegetables, I like to use small colored peppers (red, yellow and orange), purple onions, parsley and tomatoes.
The dish becomes super colorful, and besides being beautiful, it is a source of vitamins and health. The raw vegetables bring a great deal of crunch to the salad.
You can also modify the ingredients according to your taste. Quinoa, cucumber, white onion, cilantro, cherry tomatoes, carrot, olives and even feta cheese are great options.
Contents
How to make colorful lentil salad?
For the Colorful Lentil Salad I Use the dried brown lentils for this salad. If you can’t Find dried brown nentils, canned lentils will work fine!
There are 3 types of lentils, red, green, and brown. I used the brown one for this recipe.
Red lentils cook very quickly, making them perfect for soups. The green and brown lentils take longer to cook. All are delicious and very nutritious and you can also make wonderful recipes with them.
Cold Lentil salad with tuna can be stored in the refrigerator. In a closed Glass Cointainer, this salad will stay fresh for up to two days.
Fortunately, this lentil salad recipe is simple to make, I like to eat it at the end of a tiring day. The colorful lentil salad is light and nutritious recipe.
It also tastes so good that I don’t mind eating it for a few days, repeating it.
I believe that fresh herbs make any salad better, I throw in parsley for a refreshing and cooling finishing touch.
The mixture of fresh vegetables with the lentils and tuna brings freshness and flavor to your palate.
Color lentil salad can be accompanied by sauces, I quite like the more acidic sauces, my favorite for this salad is the mustard sauce.
I add lemon juice and olive oil for acidity and sweetness and have the BEST lentil tuna salad.
Serve the colorful cold lentil salad accompanying vegetable dishes such as potatoes or rice, if you prefer to serve it with just a leafy green salad.
COLORFUL LENTILS SALAD RECIPE
Colorful Lentil Salad
This is a healthy, delicious, nutritious, and protein-rich salad.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups dried green lentils or 4 1/2 cups cooked/canned
- 1 small purple onion, chopped
- 1 small red pepper, chopped
- 1 small yellow pepper, chopped
- 1 small orange pepper, chopped
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- extra virgin olive oil to taste
- juice of 1/2 lemon to taste
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the lentils in a medium saucepan, cover with 1 liter of water, and bring to a boil over medium heat. When it boils, lower the heat and cook for about 20 minutes - the lentils should be cooked but still firm. While you are cooking, prepare the other ingredients.
- Chop the purple onion, the colored peppers and the tomato into small cubes, add the chopped parsley and place in a bowl. Season with a little salt and black pepper, squeeze the lemon and add the extra virgin olive oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate to chill for a while to use later for flavoring the salad.
- When the lentils are cooked, drain well. Let it cool a bit before mixing in the other ingredients so they don't cook with the heat of the lentils.
- After the lentils are warm, almost cold, add salt and pepper. Then add them to the other ingredients that were left in the refrigerator. Adjust the salt and if you want add other fresh herbs to your liking. Refrigerate until serving time.
Notes
If you find it necessary, add more lemon and olive oil.