Lentil Salad is a tasty, and nutritious Mediterranean-style salad. Keep it simple, or make it sexy. Either way, you are going to love this vegetarian, gluten-free salad. Be sure to watch the video!
Green Moong Bean is rich in protein, and when combined with vegetables, it makes an excellent meal in a bowl. You can use them to make sprouts at home.
This gluten-free salad is an amazing, refreshing, lentil tabouleh packed with finely chopped colourful vegetables tossed in a flavoursome vinaigrette-style dressing.
The possibilities, however, don’t end here. There is an endless combination of vegetables and dressings (pick from my favourite 6 salad dressing recipes ) that work for this lentil salad.
You can easily carry this lentil salad to work in a jar .
More Reasons To LOVE Lentil Salad
- perfect side dish for grilled or BBQ meats
- possible vegan recipe (skip the cheese)
- perfect meal-prep friendly salad
- easy to make, no-fuss recipe
- wholesome and nourishing
Ingredients Required
Lentil: Use dried green mung bea n for making the salad. They are easy to cook, inexpensive, readily available , and taste excellent in the salad. Here are my favorite 21 ways to eat lentils .
You can use black beluga lentils, brown lentils, chickpeas, red kidney beans, or any other local variety of lentils /legumes also for this salad recipe.
Vegetables: Apart from the salad usuals – onion, tomato, cucumber, feel free to add olives, sun-dried tomato, kale, baby spinach, roasted bell peppers , or any other vegetable of your choice.
Herbs: Fresh parsley, Italian basil, cilantro, mint, or chives are an excellent choices for flavouring the salad.
Cheese Choice: From feta, brie, and ricotta, to goat cheese , any variety of soft cheese is ideal for making this salad more delicious.
Salad Dressing: A classic vinaigrette of olive oil, citrus, garlic, and mustard is the best choice for this hearty lentil salad.
Meal Prep For Lentil Salad
Boil Lentils: Wash, and soak lentils in water for 30 minutes. Next, boil water with salt and bay leaf in a saucepan. Add soaked mung beans. Cook them till al dente and not mushy or overcooked.
Transfer boiled lentils to a sieve or metal colander. Allow to cool down completely before making the salad. You can store cooked mung beans for 2 – 3 days in the fridge.
Prepare Dressing: Combine all the dressing ingredients in a jar. Close the lid of the jar. Shake well to combine the ingredients. Keep the salad dressing in the fridge until ready to use. Shake once again before adding to the salad.
Watch Lentil Salad Video
Serving Suggestion
You can serve lentil salad with a variety of side dishes such as:
Roasted Herb Potatoes – oven-roasted garlic and herb potatoes.
Creamy Mushroom Soup – a light and hearty warm mushroom soup.
Grilled Chicken/Seafood of your choice.
Garlic bread, focaccia , sourdough bread, or toasted artisanal bread slices.
Mung Beans are high in plant-based protein, rich in fibre, and low in fat. They’re also packed with folate, iron, phosphorus, and potassium. These are the essential nutrients one needs daily. A cup of lentil salad during lunch or dinner will help you manage your daily nutrient intake.
Yes absolutely! Using canned lentils will cut the prep time. But the only thing you have to deal with is the extra salt in the can. Thoroughly wash the canned lentils to remove all the excess salt. Do not add the liquid in the can to the salad along with lentils.
You can cook lentils without soaking them as well. But soaking them reduces the cooking time to almost half.
Dry lentils will take about 15 minutes to cook in an Instant Pot , whereas the pre-soaked lentils for the salad will need 5 – 6 minutes. First, wash the dry lentils thoroughly to remove dirt or stones. Once done, add them into the inner pot with enough water to submerge the lentils and salt to taste. Set the IP to pressure cook mode for 5 minutes. Once done, release the pressure manually, and check lentils for doneness.
Store cooked lentils in an airtight container for 2 – 3 days in the fridge.
More Salad Recipes
- Avocado Salad
- Fattoush Salad
- Summer Fruit Salad
- Shrimp Mango Salad
- Classic Macaroni Salad
- Mung Bean Sprout Salad
- Healthy Brown Chickpea Salad
- Creamy Pasta Salad With Pineapple
If you try this recipe and love it, please leave a comment and a rating. This helps us grow and reach other food lovers like you.
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 Cup green lentil (mung bean)
- ▢ 1 bay leaf
- ▢ 2 teaspoon salt
- ▢ ½ Cup finely chopped red onion
- ▢ ½ Cup finely chopped tomato (deseeded)
- ▢ ½ Cup finely diced cucumber
- ▢ ¼ Cup sliced olives
- ▢ ¼ Cup pomegranate
- ▢ ¼ Cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- ▢ ¼ Cup coarsely chopped walnuts
- ▢ ¼ Cup crumbled feta cheese
Salad dressing
- ▢ ¼ Cup extra virgin olive oil
- ▢ 2 tablespoon lime juice
- ▢ 1 tablespoon crushed or minced garlic
- ▢ 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
- ▢ Salt and black pepper to taste
- ▢ 1 teaspoon oregano
Instructions
Boil Lentils:
- Wash and soak the green moong lentils in enough water for 5 hours.
- In a saucepan, bring 4 cups of water to boil. Season with salt and bay leaf. Add soaked lentils, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 15 minutes. Lentil should not over cook or turn mushy.
- Drain boiled lentils in a metal colander and allow them to cool completely
Prepare Salad Dressing:
To prepare the salad dressing, whisk all the ingredients of dressing in a bowl or a jar with a lid until well combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning accordingly.
Combine chopped vegetables in a bowl. Add boiled lentil, chopped parsley, and walnuts.
Pour dressing over the salad. Toss the salad gently in the dressing. Sprinkle feta cheese before serving.
Serve lentil salad with toasted bread slice.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition
We follow a strict NO SPAM Policy
Mediterranean Lentil Salad Recipe
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 Cup green lentil (mung bean)
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoon salt
- ½ Cup finely chopped red onion
- ½ Cup finely chopped tomato (deseeded)
- ½ Cup finely diced cucumber
- ¼ Cup sliced olives
- ¼ Cup pomegranate
- ¼ Cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ Cup coarsely chopped walnuts
- ¼ Cup crumbled feta cheese
Salad dressing
- ¼ Cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon crushed or minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon oregano
Instructions
Boil Lentils:
- Wash and soak the green moong lentils in enough water for 5 hours.
- In a saucepan, bring 4 cups of water to boil. Season with salt and bay leaf. Add soaked lentils, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 15 minutes. Lentil should not over cook or turn mushy.
- Drain boiled lentils in a metal colander and allow them to cool completely
Prepare Salad Dressing:
To prepare the salad dressing, whisk all the ingredients of dressing in a bowl or a jar with a lid until well combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning accordingly.
Combine chopped vegetables in a bowl. Add boiled lentil, chopped parsley, and walnuts.
Pour dressing over the salad. Toss the salad gently in the dressing. Sprinkle feta cheese before serving.
Serve lentil salad with toasted bread slice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Makhana Kheer is a perfect sattvic dessert for Hindu festivals like Navratri, Shivratri, or Janmashtami. Be sure to watch the video!
Like any other Indian kheer , in taste and texture, Makhana Kheer is delicious and creamy. This kheer recipe highlights the simple, fuss-free making process and the creamy texture.
It is the perfect Indian dessert for a falahar diet, as many communities refrain from eating whole grains while fasting. You can also make dry fruits makhana rice kheer for other festive occasions.
The only twist we have introduced in the Makhana Kheer Recipe is adding barnyard millet (samavat rice) and dry fruits.
The combination of millets and foxnuts takes this humble kheer to another level of deliciousness and makes the kheer more wholesome plus fulfilling.
Key Ingredients
The two key ingredients of this kheer recipe are – Samvat Rice and Makhana .
Samvat Rice is a variety of tiny millet known as barnyard millet in Engish. It is often used to substitute regular rice in many religious fasting or falahari recipes .
The other names of Samvat Rice are – samo rice, sama ke chawal, samvat chawal, or vrat ke chawal . You can prepare any rice dish from kheer, and pulao to upma with this gluten-free millet.
Makhana is the Hindi term for foxnuts or lotus seeds. It is also a gluten-free, plant-based vegan ingredient. You can use foxnuts to make curry , caramel makhana , and phirni or eat roasted as a snack .
Other Ingredients
- Whole Cream Milk – I highly recommend using full-fat or whole-cream milk to make a rich and creamy kheer.
- Sugar – I prefer using jaggery powder for making Makhana Kheer. It gives the kheer a delicious nutty taste and a light brown colour. You can use granulated white sugar or brown sugar.
- Dry Fruits: Slived almond, cashew, unsalted pistachio, golden raisins, dried rose petals, chironji. You can roughly chop the nuts or process them to make a coarse powder in a food processor. Dry Fruits give an excellent taste to the kheer and add a lot of protein value.
- Green Cardamom and saffron – for the taste and aroma.
- Fresh Fruits – From fresh pomegranate pearls, chopped mango pulp, and apples to bananas, you can add a variety of fresh fruits on top of chilled kheer to make it more nutritious.
Samvat Makhana Kheer with Jaggery
Makhana Kheer Recipe Variation
You can make this kheer with only barnyard millet, foxnuts, and dry fruits.
Makhana Kheer with Condensed Milk: Add condensed milk to the kheer. It will thicken the kheer. Once the millet is cooked, add ½ cup sweetened condensed milk to the kheer and cook for another 5-6 minutes. Add some sugar if the kheer is not sweet enough for your taste.
Vegan Makhana Kheer: To make a vegan kheer, replace ghee with coconut oil and use almond milk as I do for my vegan badam phirni .
Watch Makhana Kheer Video
Storage Suggestion
Transfer the makhana kheer to an airtight container. Store it in the refrigerator for 2 – 3 days . It remains fresh. Reheat in a microwave or saucepan on the stovetop. You can enjoy makhana kheer chilled as well.
It cannot be frozen, as the milk will curdle when thawed or reheated.
More Indian Kheer Recipes
- Gobi Kheer
- Rice Kheer
- Seviyan Kheer
- Sabudana Kheer
- Sugar-Free Apple Kheer
- Lauki (Bottle Gourd) Kheer
- Paneer Kheer (Chanar Payesh)
If you try this recipe and love it, please leave a comment and a rating. This helps us grow and reach other food lovers like you.
Ingredients
- ▢ 3 tablespoon ghee (clarified butter)
- ▢ 1 Cup foxnut (makhana), cut into half
- ▢ ¼ cup barnyard millet (samvat/sama rice)
- ▢ 1 litre full cream milk
- ▢ 1 teaspoon green cardamom powder
- ▢ ¼ teaspoon saffron strands
- ▢ ⅓ Cup jaggery powder or white sugar
- ▢ ⅓ Cup dry fruits (sliced almond, pistachio, cashew)
Instructions
- Clean and rinse millet with water. Set aside in a sieve or colander.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee in a pan. Add foxnut and roast over low heat till crispy. Keep stirring them while roasting else they burn very fast. Once roasted, transfer to a plate and set aside.
- In the same pan, heat the remaining ghee, add rinsed millet, and fry for 40 – 50 seconds.
- Add milk, and stir to combine the millet into the milk. Simmer the milk over low heat, keep stirring at regular intervals, and let it reduce to half the original amount.
- Once the millet is fully cooked, add cardamom powder and saffron. Stir to combine into the milk. You have to cook the millet till it is soft, mushy, and the texture of the kheer is creamy.
- Add roasted foxnut, jaggery powder, and stir to mix. Add chopped dry fruits and simmer the kheer for 2 – 3 minutes. Do not cook for too long after adding foxnuts.
- You can serve it either warm or allow it to cool down at room temperature. If you like it chilled, keep the kheer in the refrigerator for 1 – 2 hours after coooling it down at room temperature.
- Garnish Makhana Kheer with sliced dry fruits and rose petals. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes:
- Make sure you use full cream or full fat milk for making the kheer.
- Keep stirring the kheer at regular intervals while simmering to avoid milk or millet getting burnt.
- Check rice for doneness at regular intervals while cooking.
- Do not add the sugar before the millet is fully cooked.
- You can make this kheer in an instant pot as well. Add all the ingredients in the inner pot. Set Pressure Cook Mode for 10 minutes. Seal the lid. After 10 minutes check rice for doneness. If the kheer is not thick enough, set SAUTE mode for 10 minutes and allow the kheer to simmer till it thickens.
Nutrition
We follow a strict NO SPAM Policy
