If you’re familiar with my five-minute edamame bowl, think of this herby lentil salad as its younger, Gen Z sister who is the same basic concept, but just with waaaaay more accessories. Like a proud mother, I love them both equally, but I know that one (aka this one) is WAY louder than the other.
This salad is everything I love about lentils and olives. Both are hearty plant-based options for a salad that can add so much depth, but they need a few crunchy, bright and colorful vegetables by their side to really make them sing.
Every ingredient in this salad serves a purpose. You have cucumbers for freshness and crunch (long live a thinly sliced cucumber IMO). Pickled red onions for sweetness and acid (you can find a recipe for those here!) and the lentils, olives and feta for richness and heartiness. And of course herbs. Because what would life be without herbs.
Table of contents
What ingredients you will need for this lentil salad
- 1 can black lentils, drained and rinsed well
- 3 mini cucumbers, sliced thinly or diced
- 1/3 cup parsley leaves, chopped finely
- 1/3 cup basil leaves chiffonade cut
- 1/3 cup pickled red onions
- 1/3 cup kalamata olives, pits removed and roughly chopped
- 1-2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp olive oil to finish, optional
- 1/4 cup fresh feta crumbles, for topping
Why this combination of herbs & aromatics?
This salad is all about the combination of two thing – heavy and bright. The lentils and olives hold down the salad, but are almost begging for some much-needed “lightness” to be brought in by the other ingredients.
You’ll notice no garlic and no onion in this recipe, and that’s because the briny, rich olives kind of carry the team when it comes to aromatics. And the salty feta really brings out a ton of flavor. Plus since this is a raw salad, either of those alliums would just be too harsh, you know what I’m saying?
So while the feta, pickled onions and vinegar bring a lot of energy to this salad, we also bring in some chill, calming notes with the cucumber and the herbs.
Cucumber is literally the most chill vegetable. That is all I have to say about that.
The best way to prepare the ingredients
Some of the ingredients for this lentil bowl you can get pre-prepared, where as others you need to chop and prep yourself. I recommend trying to get as many things done for you so you don’t have to put too much effort into this lentil salad. Because truly, it’s designed to be easy.
If you weren’t able to get pitted olives, or if you need to make your own pickled onions (so easy, btw) it’s not the end of the world! I just recommend starting by prepping your pickled onions first, give them an hour to get some color and then begin chopping your herbs and the rest of the ingredients.
The two things that are the best when you chop them right before are the herbs and cucumbers, so try not to let those sit out too long while you are prepping. I have a full step-by-step guide below!
How to make this lentil salad
Like I mentioned in the above, this recipe is just a bunch of chopping and then a bit of tossing together, but timing does matter to make it as easy as possible, so I’ve outlined a step-by-step below!
- Drain and rinse the lentils and set aside.
- Either dice the cucumbers or chop them finely with a mandolin.
- Rub the herbs together with your hands to activate the aromas in them, then finely chop the parsley and roll up the basil to give it a chiffonade cut.
- Roughly chop the kalamata olives.
- In a large bowl, add the lentils, cucumbers, parsley, basil, kalamata olives, pickled red onions and salt and pepper to taste.
- Toss the salad and drizzle with a bit of vinegar. Toss and taste and add salt, pepper and vinegar as necessary.
- Scoop the salad onto the serving bowls and top with feta and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve immediately 🙂
Looking for other salad bowls?
I have so many to choose from, but here are a few of my favorites:
And that’s it for this lentil, feta and olive bowl!
If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.
And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3
Herby Lentil, Feta & Olive Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 can black lentils drained and rinsed well
- 3 mini cucumbers sliced thinly or diced
- 1/3 cup parsley leaves chopped finely
- 1/3 cup basil leaves chiffonade cut
- 1/3 cup pickled red onions
- 1/3 cup kalamata olives pits removed and roughly chopped
- 1-2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp olive oil to finish optional
- 1/4 cup fresh feta crumbles for topping
Instructions
- Drain and rinse the lentils and set aside.
- Either dice the cucumbers or chop them finely with a mandolin.
- Rub the herbs together with your hands to activate the aromas in them, then finely chop the parsley and roll up the basil to give it a chiffonade cut.
- Roughly chop the kalamata olives.
- In a large bowl, add the lentils, cucumbers, parsley, basil, kalamata olives, pickled red onions and salt and pepper to taste.
- Toss the salad and drizzle with a bit of vinegar. Toss and taste and add salt, pepper and vinegar as necessary.
- Scoop the salad onto the serving bowls and top with feta and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve immediately 🙂
Obsessed with this recipe! So simple, and the ingredients compliment each other so nicely. It’s bright and fresh while using ingredients that are readily available in winter months. Thanks for another great recipe Justine!