A friend slept over last Monday and for lack of time I prepared a lazy no-cook dinner. The result was this ambrosial, elegant and colourful salad, its explosive gooseberries and bity onions rewardingly tamed by sweet sun blushed tomatoes, soft cheese and lentils. The addition of elderflower cordial in the dressing, while not necessary, wrapped it all up with a quirky, flowery touch for a most satisfying catch up dinner.
Lentil, gooseberry and goat’s cheese salad
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Recipe by: Anne-Laure at Tasty Diaries, loosely inspired by a gorgeous bean salad I ate at Marie-Ange Lapierre's house Busy:15 min, Total prep time: 15 mn Serves: 2 |
Trim the base of the root and any wilted green ends off the Spring onion. Segment the onion lengthways into strips as fine as possible, halving the longest ones.
In a small container, mix the olive oil, elderflower cordial, lemon juice, and some salt and pepper. Cover with a tight fitting lid and shake well.
Mix the onion strips, gooseberries, sunblushed tomatoes and lentils and pour the dressing over.
With a fork, mix intimately the goat's cheese and cream in a separate bowl until obtaining a soft spread-like consistency. Season to taste and stir in the chopped chervil delicately.
Serve the salad with a dollop of cheese and cream mixture on top. Eat with thick slices of rustic bread.
Open the lentil tin and drain well; transfer the lentils to a salad bowl.
Trim the base of the root and any wilted green ends off the Spring onion. Segment the onion lengthways into strips as fine as possible, halving the longest ones.
In a small container, mix the olive oil, elderflower cordial, lemon juice, and some salt and pepper. Cover with a tight fitting lid and shake well.
Mix the onion strips, gooseberries, sunblushed tomatoes and lentils and pour the dressing over.
With a fork, mix intimately the goat’s cheese and cream in a separate bowl until obtaining a soft spread-like consistency. Season to taste and stir in the chopped chervil delicately.
Serve the salad with a dollop of cheese and cream mixture on top. Eat with thick slices of rustic bread.
The big cheat here is the use of tinned lentils, which saves 35-40 minutes cooking time. Taste-wise, pulses and beans do really well in tins and I find them perfect for use in quick salads such as this one.
Slicing the onion lengthways takes a bit more time and effort than chopping it across into little rounds. I picked this method though because the long, chive-like strips look so elegant once folded into the salad. If you are in a super hurry (but only if!), cut it the other way.
Slicing the onion lengthways takes a bit more time and effort than chopping it across into little rounds. I picked this method though because the long, chive-like strips look so elegant once folded into the salad. If you are in a super hurry (but only if!), cut it the other way.
Ingredients
For the salad:
1 400g tin Puy lentils
1 Spring onion
20 gooseberries (about 80 g)
100g sun blushed tomatoes
60 g goat's cheese
3-4 tablespoons single cream
Leaves off 4 to 5 sprigs fresh herbs (I used chervil), chopped
For the dressing:
3 tablespoons olive oil
juice of half-lemon
2 tablespoons elderflower cordial
Salt and pepper
For the salad:
1 400g tin Puy lentils
1 Spring onion
20 gooseberries (about 80 g)
100g sun blushed tomatoes
60 g goat's cheese
3-4 tablespoons single cream
Leaves off 4 to 5 sprigs fresh herbs (I used chervil), chopped
For the dressing:
3 tablespoons olive oil
juice of half-lemon
2 tablespoons elderflower cordial
Salt and pepper
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