French-style lentil salad

Ingredients

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• 1 cup dry French green lentils
• 3 cups water, for cooking the lentils
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• 2 medium carrots, finely diced
• 2 medium celery stalks, finely diced
• ½ medium red onion, finely diced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 cups baby arugula
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts
• 1 oz crumbled feta cheese
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper

All set! Everything is out. Time to bake.

Method

1. 1Rinse the lentils and pick out any small stones. Put them in a medium pot with the water, bay leaf and thyme. Do not add salt yet.
2. 2Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low so it barely bubbles. Cover and cook until the lentils are tender but still hold their shape. At 5,300 ft water boils near 203 °F, so allow 20 to 25 minutes, a quarter longer than the 16 to 20 a sea-level recipe uses. Bite one at 20 minutes.
3. 3While they cook, dice the carrots, celery and onion small, about ¼ inch, so each forkful gets some of everything. Halve the tomatoes and chop the parsley and walnuts.
4. 4Drain the lentils well and pull out the bay leaf. Tip them into a large bowl while still warm.
5. 5Pour the vinegar and lemon juice over the warm lentils, add the salt and pepper, and stir. Warm lentils drink the vinegar in; cold ones do not. Let them sit 10 minutes.
6. 6Stir in the olive oil, then the carrots, celery, onion and parsley. Let the bowl cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
7. 7Fold in the tomatoes, arugula and walnuts. Scatter the feta on top. Taste for tartness and add a little more lemon juice only if needed.
8. 8Serve at room temperature. Cover and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking; it keeps 4 days. Hold the arugula and walnuts back if you will eat it over several days, and add them to each bowl.