Middle Eastern Lentil Bean Salad! Immerse yourself in the bold taste of this nutritious and flavorful salad that will tantalize your taste buds with every forkful!

Packed with a delightful medley of fresh vegetables, hearty lentils, and wholesome beans, this Middle Eastern Lentil Bean Salad is brimming with irresistible flavors. The zesty dressing adds a burst of tangy goodness that perfectly complements the earthy notes of the ingredients. This vibrant dish exudes hints of bright parsley and refreshing mint, elevating each bite with a burst of Mediterranean flair.

Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.

Hi there, Ameera here!

Nestled in a fluffy pita pocket or paired with crispy baked pita triangles, we were loving this bean salad.

You gotta give this one a try!

Tips for Success:

Flavor Profile: This Middle Eastern Lentil Bean Salad is a delicious salad filled with veggies, lentils, and beans. The dressing is full of delicious tang. This bean salad has refreshing notes of parsley and mint.
Hummus: We used our The Best Hummus Feel free to use your favorite hummus either homemade or store purchased.
Tomato Paste: The tomato paste is optional; however, it does add a little extra depth of flavor. We recommend adding it if you have it on hand.
Fresh Parsley: We lightly packed fresh parsley leaves (no stems, leaves only) into a one cup measurement, then did a rough chop.
Mint: We used dried mint as our local grocery store was out of fresh mint. Fresh mint is traditional. You can use as little or as much fresh mint as you enjoy. We suggest about ¼ cup (or less) of finely chopped fresh mint. Start on the low side and build from there.
Canned Lentils: We used Delallo Imported Italian Lentils. They come in a 14 oz. can. Most grocery stores carry them in the specialty aisles. If using dry lentils, select lentils that hold their shape after cooking like a brown lentil such as small brown lentils called Pardina lentils otherwise your salad with turn to mush if the lentils are not firm (but still tender). Cook dry lentils separately, adjust time accordingly. If cooking dry lentils, you want to end up with 1 2/3 cups of cooked
Health Benefits of Lentils: Lentils are rich in fiber, folate, and potassium. They are heart healthy and great for helping manage blood pressure and cholesterol. They are also a really great source for iron and vitamin B1. Lentils have a low glycemic index which helps improve blood sugar management. They are also packed with protein making them the third highest in protein by weight of any legume or nut.
Great Northern Beans Substitutions: You can pretty much substitute the Great Northern Beans for cannellini beans or chickpeas.
Salad Dressing Tanginess: Initially the salad dressing may appear overly tangy if tasting before dressing the salad; however, keep in mind that the dressing needs to cover all the salad ingredients. Once you dress the salad and mix well, the tanginess will slightly dissipate.
Tomatoes: We used 6 cocktail tomatoes (small tomatoes). We sliced each tomato into fourths, then removed the juice and seeds (discarded), then diced the flesh into small pieces. If you do not remove the juice and seeds, the dressing will become unpleasantly watery.
Optional – Soaked Red Onions: If you are concerned about the sharpness that can come from red onions, then we suggest lightly soaking them. The purpose of soaking the red onions is two-fold. One – it removes any sharp notes as some red onions can be overpoweringly strong. In this salad, mild red onion perfectly complements the flavor. Two – it ever so slightly reduces the crunch. The red onions are still crunchy as they are raw, but soaking can mitigate some of the crunch. Simply place the chopped red onions into a small bowl, cover with warm tap water and steep for 7 minutes, then drain off the water, shake well to remove any excess water, then they are ready for the recipe.
Serving Ideas: This bean salad tastes great inside a pita or also with toasted pita chips used as scoops. To make pita chips, preheat the oven to 425 F, simply cut the pitas into small triangles, lay onto a baking sheet and bake for 4 to 6 minutes or until crisp.
Table Salt: If using table salt, you should use less table salt than the amount listed in the ingredients as sea salt crystals are larger than table salt crystals. Since table salt crystals are very fine, less table salt is required to season a dish. We would suggest starting with about 1/4 to 1/2 the amount of sea salt listed. You can always add more salt but cannot take it away. We recommend using sea salt as it is less refined than table salt.

Leftovers and Freezing:

Leftovers will generally keep 5 days in the refrigerator. Store in a covered container.

This salad cannot be frozen.

Pantry Products:

Hummus: We used our The Best Hummus Feel free to use your favorite hummus either homemade or store purchased.
Canned Lentils: We used Delallo Imported Italian Lentils. They come in a 14 oz. can. Most grocery stores carry them in the specialty aisles.
Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.

Kitchen Equipment:

Whisk (or fork)

If you try this flavorful bean salad, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.

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Middle Eastern Lentil Bean Salad

Hi there, Ameera here!

Tips for Success:

Leftovers and Freezing:

Pantry Products:

Kitchen Equipment:

Middle Eastern Lentil Bean Salad

Description

Ingredients

Instructions

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