I’m so excited to share my latest recipe with you today! It’s a fresh and crisp salad that will make everyone happy! I got the idea when I was really looking forward to lentils and a fresh lemon vinaigrette that I love to make! I still had leeks left in my fridge, so then I thought, why don’t I make a salad with them?
It’s crazy how we can occasionally come up with ideas in the kitchen. Sometimes you just have to look at what you have in your cupboards, or in your fridge, and you immediately see what you can use and what new flavors you can develop!
This salad can be made in less than half an hour and you can even add other delicious fresh vegetables that you need to finish. You can really go in many directions with it! And the vinaigrette is also made really quickly and can be kept for a few days, so what more could you want?
I really love salads myself. Whether they are sour, sweet or salty, I don’t care as long as they are packed with vegetables! Because as you may know by now, I really love that!
And go, now into the kitchen because we are going to make this salad!
Ingredients
30 min. 4/6 people
Salad
- 1 jar (or can) of lentils
- 4 leeks
- olive oil
- 1 boiled egg per person
- parsley or cilantro, chopped
- salt and pepper
Lemon vinaigrette
- 100 ml of lemon juice
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 5 tablespoons of coarse mustard
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- 100ml of olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Cut the ends off the leeks and remove the outer leaves. Rinse and when the leeks are large cut lengthwise, not all the way in half, but to open them up. Wash the lentils and soak them in warm water for 10 minutes.
Put a wide low pan on the fire with plenty of water and salt and let the water come to a boil. Place the leeks in the water, reduce the heat and let the leeks blanch for 10 minutes. Drain the lentils well. Drain the leeks too!
Use a food processor or hand blender to blend the lemon juice, shallots and mustard until it is a thick consistency. Then add the honey and gradually the olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour this mixture into a bowl and let this vinaigrette settle for a while in the refrigerator.
Put a grill pan on the fire, heat a drizzle of olive oil. Fry the leek briefly until it is slightly “crispy” and brown. Then put a layer of lentils on your serving plate. Remove the leek from the grill pan and place it over the lentils. Boil your eggs how you prefer to eat them while pouring vinaigrette all over the dish. Place the eggs on top of the leeks and sprinkle the parsley or cilantro on top. Add a little more salt and pepper and serve the salad lukewarm or cold, however you like!
Voilà, a fresh, delicious and healthy salad in less than half an hour!
The result
If you don’t have a poaching pan for your eggs, I can really recommend buying one. It really saves you a lot of work. The only downside is that it’s easy to burn your fingers on those pans, but if you’ve been in the kitchen for a long time like me, you have fireproof fingers.
Hahaha, I might say it very tough, but there really is nothing worse than burning your fingers or cutting them as a cook. Of course you cannot really cook without fingers, or at least things you’ll lose a lot of dexterity and precision!
Anyway, a poaching pan is really an asset and I really recommend them. You can quickly find a good one on Amazon for less than 30 euros! So get ready and start poaching your eggs with it, because this salad is really much better with a delicious freshly poached egg!
Hopefully you really like this salad. Hold on to your hats, because I will be sharing more delicious fresh salads for warm days with you!
