Lentil Salad with Feta and Pomegranate (Lettuce Wrap)

Lentil salad with feta and pomegranate is a surprisingly delicious combination of earthy, salty, and sweet flavors. The combination of the brine from feta cheese, and the sweet pop of pomegranate works amazingly well with the filling and satisfying fiber-packed lentils.

I came across this recipe one afternoon when I had an odd assortment of ingredients in my refrigerator. We had made a batch of lentils earlier in the week and had some leftovers. I had pomegranate seeds, fresh cilantro, and mint that needed to be used or they were going to go bad.  I can’t remember what I typed into the Google machine but this lovely recipe for Lentil Pomegranate Salad (Palouse Caviar) from Feasting at Home popped up in the search results.

Check out Feasting at Home it is a beautiful website filled with healthy and nutritious recipes you will love. 

My adaptation below has a few (small) alterations in ingredients and is served as a lettuce wrap.

Meal Prep Lentils:

This lentil salad made its way into our recipe, rotation, simply by having some cooked lentils in the refrigerator ready to go.  When I found Feasting At Home's delicious recipe- Lentil Pomegranate Salad (Palouse Caviar)- it only took me a few minutes to whip up an amazing lunch for me and my husband.

Lentils take 30 to 40 minutes to cook, but once you’ve done that work, they hold up really well in the refrigerator for up to seven days. Because of this, it’s one of my favorite meal prep ingredients.

I suggest using French Green Lentils rather than green, brown, or red- because the other varieties of green lentils will become mushy, and this dish will lose its texture.

How to prepare better lentils:

In a large saucepan add about 3 cups of water and ½ cup of green French lentils. You only need a half cup of the dry lentils for this recipe because they will double in size. But when I make lentils I rarely only make a half cup- why not make more and have some ready in the refrigerator to add to meals later in the week?

Unlike quinoa or rice, you do not need an exact water-to-lentil ratio. Think more like you’re cooking pasta, you just need significantly more water than lentils. You can also you broth instead of what to add an extra layer of flavor.

I like to add a bay leaf, an onion cut in half, and a clove of garlic to add extra flavor to the lentils. Do not salt the lentils before cooking! They will become tough and less appetizing. Bring the water and lentils to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook and low for 20-30 minutes or until tender.

Drain the water (or broth) from the lentils and set the lentils aside until they come down to room temperature, before mixing them into the salad. Discard the bay leaf, half onion, and garlic.

Pomegranate

oh, I love pomegranates! They’re bright and I love the burst of juice they bring to the salad. I know cutting into a pomegranate can seem a little intimidating, but head over to the original recipe, Lentil Pomegranate Salad (Palouse Caviar)- Where Sylvia has a great video about how to attack a pomegranate successfully.

Mint

I’ve been buying fresh mint more and more often. It does not last very long in the refrigerator, so I find myself sneaking it into all kinds of recipes.  In this recipe, in particular, I love the cilantro, mint combination.

Feta cheese

The salty brownie flavor of the feta works really well with the pop of sweet and juicy pomegranate. You can definitely do it without the feta (my husband always gives me a hard time that I rarely make a salad without some kind of cheese in it 😉

Lentil salad and lettuce wrap:

We’ve been experimenting with all different kinds of things to convert into a lettuce wrap dinner. This lentil salad might be one of our most successful experiments and now is our preferred way to eat it.

We’ve also served this salad as a side to fish and chicken.

If you’ve tried this Lentil Salad with Feta and Pomegranate recipe or any other recipe on BalancingBowls, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to see more tasty meals and anything else I’m up to.