This salad is a fresh dish that can be served either as a side dish or as a meal, if eaten with a selection of mature cheeses. It can be prepared ahead and kept in the refrigerator but should be served at room temperature.

Difficulty: easy
Cost: low
Preparation Time: 20 minutes (add 25 minutes cooking time)
Serves: 4

Method

Boil the lentils in abundant salted water for about 20 minutes and turn off the heat when they are still crunchy; if you want to soak the lentils the night before, the cooking time will be reduced by a few minutes. Drain the cooked lentils, and let them cool. 

In the meantime, peel and halve the fresh spring onion PDO, put one half aside and finely chop the other half, chop the chives, cut the sweet choli pepper into small rounds and the cherry tomatoes into quarters, or into even smaller pieces. Grill the remaining half of the spring onion and set aside for the garnish.

Blanch the beetroot, cut it into cubes and season with the lemon juice. In a small bowl, make a dressing with the extra virgin olive oil, ground pepper, and salt. 

Place the cold lentils in a large bowl: add the previously prepared ingredients and some basil leaves, roughly torn (keep aside a few whole  to garnish the lentil salad). Season with the dressing and mix well, adding salt if necessary. 

Serve the lentil salad garnished with the remaining fresh basil leaves and the grilled spring onion. Enjoy!