French Lentil Salad

This is my favorite salad from Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease. I modified the original recipe by substituting red bell peppers for the tomatoes, and adding a tablespoon of olive oil.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups dry French lentils (petite gray-green lentils)

2 bay leaves

½ cup finely diced carrots (1 medium carrot, peeled)

½ cup finely diced celery (1 stalk, washed and veined)

½ cup finely diced red bell pepper (about ½ medium pepper, washed and seeded)

½ cup finely diced green onions (regular yellow or red onion is also fine)

2 tbsp of minced fresh parsley leaves, Italian or curly

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/8 cup sherry wine vinegar

1-2 tsp fresh minced garlic cloves

¼ tsp black pepper

• Boil lentils and bay leaves in water just to cover lentils for 15 min, drain and cool with running water, re-drain and remove bay leaves

• Mix cooked lentils with chopped vegetables

• Season with olive oil, wine vinegar, garlic and pepper, store in refrigerator

This salad goes well with corn bread.