French Green Lentil Salad with Coconut Lime Dressing

I found some French green lentils in a local grocery store recently and just had to buy them.  They are the royalty of the lentil family, full of peppery goodness.  That is peppery as in savory, not peppery as in hot.  They are a blueish green color with speckles and even uncooked they smell differently than other lentils.

The flavor profile for this salad with the Coconut Lime Dressing is a little bit Thai and a little bit Indian.  It all works together so well.  My daughter, Katie, suggested that the dressing would also be delicious on a shrimp salad.  I could definitely see it being used as a dipping sauce, a marinade, a salad dressing, or maybe even just slurping it up with a straw would be best of all.

Be sure to serve this salad at room temperature to keep the dressing smooth.  Chilling tends to cause all of that delicious coconut fat to separate from the liquid.

French Green Lentil Salad with Coconut Lime Dressing
Recipe by Terri @ that’s some good cookin’
Printable Recipe

Salad

• 2 cups dry French green lentils
• 2 plum tomatoes, seeded and small diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced thin on diagonal
• 1/2 medium yellow pepper, small dice
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. In a colander, wash lentils under cool running water.  Remove any foreign debris.
2. Put lentils in a 3 quart sauce pot and add enough cool water to cover lentils by 1 or more inches.  Add salt, bring lentils to a simmer and cook until just tender (about 25 minutes).
3. When done, drain in a colander and rinse again.  Put into a large mixing bowl and add remainder of ingredients.  Stir gently to combine.
4. Dress with Coconut Lime Dressing before serve or serve the dressing separately.

Coconut Lime Dressing

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated ginger (optional)
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• zest of 1 lime

Put all ingredients into a blender and blitz until smooth. Serve with French Green Lentil Salad.