I can’t bring myself to make vegetarian grapeleaves, but I
feel duty-bound to make sure that my friend’s vegan daughter has something substantive
to eat when she comes to parties at our house. David turned 50 this week and we
invited friends over for dinner; it’s the busiest week of the year, what with the
school year ending and the kids having half days and Anna going to work
orientation and so on, so I was looking for things that I could make in advance
and hold in the fridge or at room temperature without any last-minute fussing.
This garlicky lentil salad from the online archives of Saveur was a winner in all
categories.
Lentils are pretty great. I like how their earthy flavor
comes through when you do something minimal to them, and also how you can dump
just about any kind of spice in and completely change them up. I like the firm
bite of cold lentils and the creaminess of dal, and mjadara is a staple in our house
because we love it, not just because it’s fast and cheap and easy and we always
have ingredients on hand.
This particular salad is poised to become a regular on the
summertime menu. It was fantastic warm and freshly tossed with the garlicky, lemony
olive oil dressing, and just as fantastic at room temperature later in the day when
everyone wandered in for dinner. When I’m done typing this I’m going to see how
it tastes cold out of the fridge – but I’m guessing it’s going to be just as
good. I’m picturing it piled into pita with some variation of a cabbage slaw and
garlic sauce or tzatziki or hummous, and added to fattoush and a bit of chicken
shawarma next time we make Flaming Moes. I can see making a big batch at the
beginning of the week so the teenagers in house aren’t living on gluten-free
Hot Pockets and granola bars because they need to eat Right Now. And given the absolutely
heroic amount of garlic in the dressing, I feel confident that we will safely
avoid even the hardiest of vampires in our summer travels; this is one of those
things that everyone in the family has to eat so that we all have the same
garlic breath and nobody gets ostracized. (If you didn't get the reference in the title, this summer is a great time to rewatch The Lost Boys.)
 |
| Grandpa still can't stomach all the damn vampires. |
A note about the garlic: This is one of those times when the
garlic takes center stage, so you absolutely don’t want to use the pre-chopped
jarred kind. And for some reason, the pre-peeled garlic always tastes a little
funky to me, so I wouldn’t use that either. Faced with the prospect of making a
triple batch of this and therefore needing 36 cloves (3 small heads of garlic,
in case you care), I borrowed an annoying but effective tip I learned from my daughter.
Separate the cloves and put them into a small metal mixing bowl. Put another bowl
over the top and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds. This is loud and
obnoxious and your arms will realize that 30 seconds is kind of a while…. But when
you take the top bowl off, your garlic will be peeled. If it doesn’t all get done
in the first round, pick out the peeled cloves and papery skins and do it
again. I wouldn’t go through this bother for just a couple of cloves – I don’t
mind the smash-peel-have-garlic-hands thing – but this is a really efficient
way to get a lot done at once.
Garlicky Lentil Salad (Salata Adas)
1 cup green lentils, rinsed
6 Tbsp olive oil
12 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground allspice
1 Tbsp minced parsley
1 Tbsp minced fresh mint
Salt and pepper to taste
Bring the lentils and 3 cups of water to a boil, then reduce
the heat and simmer until the lentils are tender but not mushy, about 30
minutes. Drain the lentils and set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a skillet, add the garlic,
and cook until tender but not brown, about 7 minutes. Take the pan off the heat
and whisk in the remaining oil, lemon juice, cumin, and allspice. Pour over the
warm lentils and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then add the parsley
and mint.
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