Thursday, May 31, 2012

Lentil, Lemon & Tuna Salad

Interesting flavors and a new summertime dish.....


Per Tricia:
Nana is taking a well deserved week off and since I was able to find 
the green lentils at Wegman's, I jumped in to knock this recipe out.  
Lentils are one of those items that I was not always a fan of. 
The drab look, the taste, the aroma ...... "back in the day" I did not 
even want them on my plate. 

Amazingly, I have really come to enjoy them over time.  Since 
the other half of the family is Italian, we have enjoyed the tradition
 of eating Lentils after midnight on New Year's Eve.  Italian culture 
tells us that this will bring prosperity in the New Year.  Evidently the little
 legumes look like coins or such.  They do go quite nicely with Champagne
 and  I am never one to break tradition- French or Italian.  But the flavor
 combo of this recipe was a new one for me.  It was lovely and refreshing. 
I could see how Dorie tasted the dish and decided to add tuna. 


The only item I did not manage to locate was the "citron confit", but
 thanks to Google I learned that I could substitute 2 Tbs of lemon juice
  for each citron confit.  I also found many sites providing encouragement
 and directions for making this ingredient at home....but since I was knocking
 this out the night before the deadline and you need quite a bit of time for the 
lemons to transition into citron confit.....2 tablespoons of lemon juice it was !


The hardest part of this dish (once you locate green lentils and citron confit) 
is waiting for the lentils to cook.  It is truly that easy and will be a wonderful 
addition to the summer menu.  My hubby really enjoyed the flavor combo
but said he preferred the dish at room temperature rather than chilled.
  My older son performed taste test duties and declared it "good" 
but would like to add some Parmesan on top next  time.  
We add Parmesan to anything savory in this house....sorry Dorie :)
This was a keeper and I am really pleased to add it to my recipe collection.

Happy French Friday !

15 comments:

  1. I hope Tricia is recovering from all of last weekend's excitement :-) We are on the countdown - 3 weeks until graduation up here.
    Nana, your salad looks lovely & I am glad to hear that you hold true to tradition. Especially if it involves champagne.

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  2. This was even nice without the tuna :)) Glad you enjoyed. Have a great weekend.

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  3. I'm slowly growing to like lentils, though I think I prefer them warm over cold. Your salad looks great!

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  4. Cheese.... I dont think it would help me like it any more, but I'm glad you liked it!

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  5. Yep, I too have spent more than a few Thursday nights trying to get a FFwD recipe in on time. Luckily this was an easy one and I think that it actually works really well as a quick and healthy weekday meal.

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  6. Tricia: your lentil, lemon and tuna salad looks wonderful and fresh - what a great dish for spring and summer alike. I also opted for the lemon juice/no lemon confit version and due to the lemon zest I had added to my tapenade, I do not think we missed that ingredient either. The kids love lentils too - when fall comes around they enjoy eating lentil soup maybe that`s why. There are wonderful Italian lentil soup recipes too, have you come across a particularly good recipe that you could recommend? I would love to hear about it.

    Have a wonderful weekend!

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  7. Tricia, Beautiful job on the lentil salad! I also loved this one. You made them look quite lovely in your presentation. I’ll have to try these with some Champagne!

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  8. I think your family is on the right track - a little Parmesan on top and a glass of Champagne alongside sounds perfect!

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  9. I'm not sure you used lentils du Puy. Yours look larger than the ones I used. If you are not a huge fan of lentils I do recommend you seek out the du Puy ones they are the most delicious lentil I've ever tried... very delicate not as drab as the typical ones used in Italian cooking.

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  10. Your lentils look really great! I am also a late convert to lentils, mostly because of my kids. They love beans, which I think is just odd. Anyway, we all liked this one, too.

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  11. Tricia, I liked this salad better at room temp than chilled. I'm from Iowa, did not grow up with lentils, but am acquiring the taste. And, they are so nutritious and healthy for you - we're doing out families a favor by making them palatable (wish they looked better - they are ugly little critters). I threw in lemon zest and capers instead of preserved lemons but am going to get some in a jar - doing their thing - this month. I am glad you are letting Nana have some time off. Don't give up the lentils and champage tradition. I think champagne would have been delicious with this salad.

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  12. I really loved this recipe. I had a Meyer lemon olive oil that begged to be used, although if I had known how easy it is to quick-preserve a lemon I would have done that. I could sign up for monthly New Year's celebrations with bubbly and these lentils around.

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  13. Nice job, Tricia! I found a 2-hour "quick" preserved lemon recipe. It added interesting texture, though probably no more lemon flavor than the generous amount of juice you used. I love the little French lentils, so perfect for salads. Glad you liked this one too.

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  14. I really liked this one, too. I think it's the tuna that makes the dish. Lentils can be a bit drab without some other strong flavors. I also really like the flowers in the background.

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  15. That looks wonderful. I am having a hard time finding this recipe. Can anyone help?

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