Sally's green bean and lentil salad
All lentils are packed with nutrients, but brown and green ones contain twice as much fibre and roughly a third more potassium, phosphorus, iron and copper than red lentils. So be a lentil rainbow queen and mix the colours up!
Serves 4
Ingredients
250g dried puy or brown lentils2 fresh rosemary or thyme sprigs, leaves chopped2 celery sticks, finely chopped2 garlic cloves, crushed100g green beans, halved100g mangetout, halved4 spring onions, thinly sliced½ small bunch fresh basil, torn200g cherry tomatoes4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil3 tbsp balsamic vinegar glaze30g Parmesan-style vegetarian cheese, shaved, to serve
Method
Put the lentils in a pan with the rosemary or thyme, celery and garlic. Pour over 1 litre water, bring to the boil, then simmer for 15–20 min until tender. Drain the lentil mix and transfer to a large bowl. Set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, blanch the beans and mangetout for 1 min, then drain and add to the lentils. Leave to cool.
Stir in the spring onions, basil and tomatoes and season with black pepper. Mix the oil and balsamic glaze together in a small jug or bowl, then drizzle over the salad and toss lightly. Serve topped with the cheese shavings.