Lentil and Feta Salad

After more than a week of wonderful and indulgent food, the time has finally come to cut back our meat intake and start eating a little healthier. Worried about how our bodies would react if we went cold turkey and ate only salad and water, we decided a lentil salad with just a little extra protein would be a good compromise. The added bonus was that all the ingredients were available in the cupboard which hopefully means we’ll have little wastage come the end of the week.

As well as being healthy and relatively frugal, this was also easy to make and quick too. We both enjoyed it and it felt good to be eating a lighter meal too. Hopefully we won’t be raiding the fridge for sausages come midnight.

Lentil and Feta Salad – Serves Two

200g puy lentils, cooked
Handful of peas, cooked
2 spring onions, finely chopped
Olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper
Small bunch mint, chopped
100g Feta cheese, cubed
10cm cucumber, chopped
5 Peppadew peppers, finely sliced

Cook the lentils and peas, drain and rinse under cold water. When all the water has evaporated, add to a bowl with the spring onion and pour on the oilive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and add the mint leaves. Leave for 15 minutes so that the lentils have absorbed the flavours from the oil and lemon, add the Feta, cucumber and peppers. Mix and serve.

We ate this with some Middle-Eastern style flatbreads but usually we would eat grilled bread, rubbed with garlic and olive oil. That works better I think as the crunchy bread adds a good texture contrast.