Quick and Easy Lentil Salad

Mmmm...lentils. They are so pretty--round, delicate, colorful--and so healthy! But I never seem to know what to do with them. I bought some beautiful Turkish red lentils at Sahadi's last week, my favorite go to place for specialized ingredients.


Some friends came over for an all veggie dinner tonight, so I gave my mom's lentil salad recipe a try. My mom's recipes are the best--minimal ingredients, usually quick and easy, use fresh ingredients, and taste great. Turns out the recipe is no exception. Delicious and literally took me 10 minutes to make with plenty of leftovers for lunch.


Ingredients:
Any type of lentils (I used small red Turkish lentils)
Fresh herbs (I used chives)
Whatever veggies you have laying around (I used tomatoes)
Rice wine vinegar
Salt/Pepper
Olive Oil
Lemon

Preparation:
Pour desired amount of lentils into pot of boiling water. I used approximately 2 cups which made much more than I expected.
Simmer on stove for approximately 10 minutes, Remove from heat at the moment when the lentils go from crunchy to tender. They turn to mush incredibly fast so be vigilant!
Strain lentils and rinse with cool water to stop them from cooking.
Mix lentils with fresh herbs, veggies (best are tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, celery), juice of half a lemon, salt/pepper, and rice wine vinegar (amount depends on amount of lentils you cook, and I love rice wine vinegar so use a generous amount). Use the amount you would to heavily dress a salad.
Finish with a small amount of olive oil.
Delicious to eat right away, but flavors will set if you refrigerate for a bit.