Love Real Food Tangy Lentil Salad with Dill & Pepperoncini

Some of my recipes start off with a strong concept or challenge, while others are designed to satisfy a craving. This lentil salad falls into the latter camp. It’s exactly what I’ve been craving lately.

This salad is tangy, crisp-tender, a little spicy, and quite satisfying. The earthy lentils and carrots ground the more bold flavors, so they’re not too overwhelming.

Ingredients

Salad

1 ½ cups black beluga lentils

1 bay leaf

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

2 cups grated carrots (about ¾ pound or 5 to 6 medium carrots, peeled and grated on the large holes of a box grater or in a food processor fitted with a grating attachment)

¾ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley

¼ cup (⅓ ounce) fresh dill leaves, tough stems removed, torn into small pieces

½ cup chopped celery (about 2 ribs)

½ cup thinly sliced green onion

½ cup chopped pickled pepperoncini pepper

Optional cheese: ½ cup tiny cubes of havarti, havarti dill, mild cheddar, or crumbled feta

Tahini-dill dressing

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup (⅓ ounce) fresh dill leaves, tough stems removed

2 tablespoons tahini

1 clove garlic, roughly chopped

½ teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (scale back or omit if sensitive to spice), to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste