Lentil Salad w/ Tuna & Preserved Lemons & a Dorie Giveaway!



It's lentil time again. The cooler months call me to make lentil salads and lentil soups.
I never think to make lentils in the summer. It's a winter thang.

You know I am crazy about my lentils du Puy, from the Auvergne region of France.
They are blue greenish in color and are the very best. Try and find ones that have an A.O.C. label on them (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée: "From that region" by French law).



This recipe comes from Dorie Greenspan's new book Around My French Table.
The book is not haute cuisine by any stretch, nor is it really a French cookbook.
It's a book compiled of simple, French inspired recipes, tried and true by Dorie herself, who lives in NYC half the year, and Paris the other half (my dream!).

Simple roast meats and gougeres, as well as fruit tarts and tagines are included in this big book. Easy recipes for the home cook with Dorie's nice style of writing, as if she is chatting with you personally about the food.

This recipe made for a terrific lunch, and it was delicious the next day as well.
I used 2 tiny preserved lemons from my huge jar from the Middle Eastern food store (I have 30 left!!).


Dorie's Lentil Salad w/ Tuna & Preserved Lemons:

Dressing:
2 tsp black tapenade (olive paste found in Italian specialty stores, or you can make your own)
2 tsp French grainy mustard
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp olive oil

whisk dressing ingredients together and set aside

3 cups of cooked lentils du Puy
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 small onion, studded with a whole clove
1 dried bay leaf
1 carrot, peeled and diced
salt & pepper to taste

Rinse lentils in a strainer and sort through. In a large pot, cover lentils with 3" of water and start to boil. Add the bay leaf, the chopped carrots, an onion studded with a whole clove, and a smashed garlic clove.

Simmer about 25-30 minutes until lentils are tender but not mushy. Remove onion and bay leaf.
If there is some liquid left in the pot, strain it out.

Add warm lentils to bowl with the dressing, toss and set aside.

Salad components:
6 oz. Italian tuna, packed in oil
2 scallions, sliced (I used chives because they are still alive in my garden!)
1-2 preserved lemons, depending on their size, chopped (use rind and middle parts)

add the flaked and drained tuna to the lentils with the scallions and chopped lemons.
Season with salt & pepper and drizzle with some olive oil before serving.

It is best served cooled in the fridge for 2 hours. If you are serving it the next day, bring to room temperature and correct seasonings and add more olive oil.

Since it's almost the holidays, I will be giving away 2 of Dorie's new cookbooks, Around My French Table.



Tell us your favorite holiday dish and 2 random winners will be announced on Tues., November 23.

Good luck and enjoy!



Comments

There is lentils on my blog today too! Thanks for the giveaway chance. My favorite dish for the holiday is the antipasto we have before the meal.
I love lentils in soups and salads. They are so good for you and I buy the French ones whenever I can get my hands on them.

Dorie's new book is on my Christmas wish list. I would love to be one of the winners, then my wishes would come true.

My favorite holiday dish happens to be a left-over. Sliced white turkey left over from the big bird makes the most divine sandwich in the world. I can hardly wait until next Friday....
Sam
Privatestock said…
Without a doubt, sweet potato pie! I only make it for Thanksgiving and is it GREAT!
The JR said…
Momma's cherry pie. LOL...which is a family chuckle, cause it only has a single maraschino cherry on the top of it.
rain said…
cornbread & sage stuffing (cooked on the side and not inside the bird, EW) and butternut squash soup! nom nom nom : D
LaDue & Crew said…
Can you believe I've never tried lentils?! I know, I know....My side dish obsession is chipotle cream sweet potato gratin. I even eat it cold the day after for breakfast ;)
Elizabeth said…
My favorite holiday dish is cranberry bread!
Claudia said…
Dorie's book is on my wish list. So hard to find puy lentils in MN - grocers say, "Say, what? The little brown ones are not good enough for you?" That said I am loving the salad - have all the ingredients and when that happens - it's kismet.
Favorites? I have a hard time with favorites- I am amenable to all holiday foods. My mother's lasagna... no! her Beef Wellington.... now maybe her tenderloin in red wine reduction gravy... wait...
Angela P. said…
My favorite holiday dish is stuffed calamari, which my mom makes every Christmas Eve for the Feast of the 7 Fishes. She makes so much food, and it wouldn't be hoidays without all those traditional delights.
A Cook said…
Claudia: if you have one, try your local food co-op for the puys.

My favorite holiday dish is the turkey-and-stuffing combo which I only do on Thanksgiving. As I write this, I wonder why and can only assume that it has something to do with keeping to the tradition and how it helps to make the holiday special by only eating certain foods on that day. (My father's favorite cranberry/crushed pineapple/mini-marshmellow salad is another just-on-Thanksgiving dish. For some, Thanksgiving is one day too many.)

I'm an old fan of Dorie's and would so love to have this book!
I didn't like my preserved lemons I picked up at the middle eastern store, I will try a different brand next time, and I love lentils at winter time like you. Hmmm, my favorite holiday dish is homemade ravioli's, it's been a tradition for years, all the cookies aren't to bad either!
PaigeATL said…
Thanks for your wonderful recipes! My favorite holiday dishes are Potatoe Lakes with both sour creama and apple sauce and pumpkin pie. I have made them both and both them both and Trader Joe's and Costco version are just fine! Happy Holidays!
Carolyn K said…
My favorite holiday food is pecan pie, but just because it's the only time of year I'll allow myself a slice. Not having to cook again all weekend is kind of nice too. When you're the cook, next day leftovers are always best! Thanks for the great blog and giveaway!! I may just have to put it on my wishlist if I don't win :)
Caroline said…
My favorite holiday dish is my mom's dressing that was passed down from my great grandmother just before she passed away. My mom is the only one who knows it. I think its time to write it down!
Karen said…
My favorite dish for Thanksgiving is sweet potatoes with bourbon, an epicurious recipe. Thanks for the giveaway! I love Dorie!

karenreichmann@hotmail.com
Holly said…
Sadly, my favorite holiday dish consists of cool whip, cottage cheese, strawberries, and strawberry jello. I've eaten it once a year, every Thanksgiving since before I can remember. I look forward to it every year! Not very "foodie" of me, but it takes me back to my childhood.
Margaret said…
Hi Stacey, My holiday favorites would be pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and panettone at Christmas! Thank-you for offering such a wonderful give-away :)
Margaret from B.C.
Vicki said…
I love to make enchiladas for Christmas.
lisa is cooking said…
This is all stuff I really like: lentils, tuna, preserved lemon. Can't wait to try this! I attended a class taught by Dorie a few weeks ago. Great class and great book!
Amy V. said…
My favorite holiday dish is a Martha Steward recipe for Pear and Cranberry Pie...outstanding!
Donna-FFW said…
Hands down, my husbands homemade stuffing.. cant have thanksgiving without it. He makes a broth from the gizzards, and he swears the addition of that is what makes it the best.
Erin said…
My favorite holiday dish is cranberry salad - fresh cranberries, apples, and pineapple with some gelatin and fruit juice -- it's not gourmet, but the memories make it priceless!!
Thanks for the inspiration, Stacey! My favorite holiday dish is the stuffing from the inside of the turkey and a close second is apple dumplings. :)
Anonymous said…
my fav holiday dish is the garlic mashed potatoes and chocolate pecan pie!

Gokche

gokchecoskun@gmail.com
Anonymous said…
Roast duck with yummy bread dressing, mashed potatoes and red cabbage.I don't like turkey, so it is either duck or goose.
Debbie W said…
Can't wait to try the lentil dish!
My favorite holiday dish is spiced roasted veggies.
Kadensgran said…
Definitely the stuffing. Sausage, mushrooms in a traditional sage stuffing. Yum!
Rebecca said…
My dressing is my favorite dish. I use rye bread and corn bread with sausage, mushrooms, apples, almonds, and onions.
Terri. said…
My favorite dish is green bean casserole, I only make it at the holidays and its so good.
tshaw6580@yahoo.com
Wendy said…
My mom's sausage and sage stuffing is my favorite holiday side dish!
Anonymous said…
Pecan pie :)

Auntie J
Kat said…
I have to say... the canned cranberry sauce with a nice chunk of dark leg meat. :)
Carole said…
I always make Emily Dickinson's Black Cake and Slovakian apricot cookies for the Christmas holidays.
Karen said…
Great giveaway! My favorite is dressing - right out of the bird, thank you very much :)
Ann from Illinois said…
I have two favorite cookie recipes that must join the pie line up: pumpkin cookies (they are cake-like with a brown sugar frosting) and maple cookies, also frosted with lovliness. As Bill Murray in "What About Bob" would say, "Mmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmm." I guess you have to know the movie.....do you?
Vidya said…
Being vegetarian, I actually love eating lentils all year round. Soups and stews in winter, salads in summer. Speaking of lentils, my family actually makes this great Indian dish for every holiday called kheer or paysam, which consists of milk, sugar, nuts, spices and cooked lentils which are pureed up together to create a surprisingly delicious pudding. I generally prefer the ones without lentils, I made a great hazelnut kheer yesterday but the lentil stuff is still pretty damn good.
Desi said…
my fave holiday dish is broccoli cheese casserole.... so good!
Anonymous said…
I llove such kind of portal
Anonymous said…
Merry Christmas! Let the new year will bring a lot of money