Lentil Salad with Walnuts and Yellow Beans

This was my first try at cooking lentils, and guess what? I really like them! The inspiration for this recipe was a colorful lentil salad with walnuts and herbs from the kitchn. I adjusted ingredients and amounts to what we had on hand, so feel free to do the same! I would definitely make this again, but I think I'd use bell peppers or carrots instead of yellow beans because I think they'd match the other flavors better. The yellow beans were still pretty good though. Another plus for this recipe is that it can easily be made vegetarian or vegan.

Lentil Salad with Walnuts and Yellow Beans
Serves 8

1 1/4 pounds lentils
5 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth or water
1 red onion
4 cloves garlic
1 pound green or yellow beans
1 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1/2 cup celery leaves
1/2 cup carrot greens
1/4 cup basil
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley
1 1/2 ounces Parmesan cheese (optional, but delicious!)
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons pomegranate red wine vinegar

Sort and rinse the lentils. Place them in a large stockpot with the chicken broth or water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20-30 minutes. Check to see if they're done by eating some lentils. They should be tender but not mushy. Our ended up a little mushy, but still tasted good. If you want the salad to be cool you can spread the lentils out on a baking sheet. If you're fine with warm lentils, you can just take them off the heat.

Dice the onion and the beans. Mince the garlic. Chop up the greens and herbs. Heat some olive oil in a skillet and saute the onions and beans for 4-6 minutes. Then add the garlic, greens and herbs. Saute until fragrant, about one minute more. Stir in the molasses and vinegar and cook for about another minute.

Combine the vegetables and lentils. Sprinkle Parmesan on top and enjoy!