Minty Lentil Lunch Salad - To Go!

Monday mornings. Ugh. I don't know about the rest you, but mine always start out a bit haphazardly. Monday is like a dress rehearsal, and the real week actually starts on Tuesday for me.

Not last week though. You see, I am finally so bored with business park lunch restaurants to motivate myself to plan and prepare a lunch to-go. Ah, my American readers might think me a bit lazy, and there is some truth to that, I'm sure. But it's also a cultural thing. In the Czech Republic, worker bees tend not to take lunch with them. Restaurants serve hot, cheap meals daily, which are (mostly) palatable. And what's more, they can be ordered and digested within a 30 minute time frame. Brekkie and snacks might be toted to work, but lunch - why bother?

Even in large international companies with modern kitchen facilities, few people eat in them. People pop in and out for bevvies and to grab their snacks to be eaten deskside. But I rarely see people sitting at a table with some microwaved leftovers, or a sandwich. Baguettes from the petrol station, maybe while standing by the espresso machine, but a slapped-together turkey and swiss...never. Sure, I understand sandwich-making is an art perfected on the other side of the Atlantic, but even the classic Czech řízek (schnitzel) on rye sandwich cannot be found in the lunch fridge. Only yogurt. Rows and rows of tub after sad tub of yogurt.

So last Monday, I got up 15 minutes earlier to throw together my first of (hopefully) many more lunch boxes. It was brilliant. So healthy. And cheap. Why didn't I discover this lentil salad ages ago? It stays crisp until lunch, with just a light dressing. It's best eaten closer to room temperature than fridge freezing cold...so take it out a bit before you eat, and you'll be glad you did.

Continue to Recipe...

Recipe: Minty Lentil Lunch Salad

Serves 2

Time 15 min

Adapted from: Bon Appétit

1 cup lentils (from a can, not dried)

1 Tb olive oil

1 Tb sherry vinegar (or red/white wine vinegar)
1 Tb lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

2 Tb chopped mint
1 Tb chopped parsley

1/2 cucumber

2 tomatoes

1 green onion

crispy greens, like romaine and/or frisée

1) Wash and chop all your veg/garlic to have on hand.

2) Dump your drained and rinsed lentils in a bowl and coat with the oil, vinegar, and lemon juice. Add in the garlic, mint, parsley, cucumber, and green onion. Lastly, gently stir in the tomatoes. In your lunch box, fill one half with this mix and stuff the other half with those crispy greens. Toss the lunch box in a plastic bag to ensure the dressing doesn't leak out. Write a note a napkin telling yourself to have a good day, and head off to work!

Dobrou Chut'/ Enjoy.
-- Jo