Lentil Salad for Elizabeth

For my friend and excellent cook, Elisabetta Scorsello, here is my lentil salad recipe which she has waited patiently for all these weeks. Sorry, Elizabeth...

I love lentils. They're delicious and good for you. My husband is less than enthusiastic when I make this dish because eating lentils means he'll be spending a lot of his day in the bathroom. I don't have that problem.

Whenever I make this dish guests are inevitably impressed--it seems much more exotic than it really is. I've experimented with various kinds of lentils and the only ones that work with this salad are the imported French ones, or the Italian Castelluccio lentils. The ones you get in the supermarket in floppy plastic bags turn to mush when they're cooked--OK for lentil soup. But for a cold, or room-temperature dish, lentils need to maintain their integrity, hold their shape, and not mush into the other ingredients.

About 4 Servings
1 cup lentils (see note above about lentils)
Red Wine Vinegar (a good brand)
EVOO
Finely diced shallot (about 3 Tablespoons)
Chopped fresh Italian-leaf parsley (about 3 Tablespoons)
1/2 cup crumbled goat or feta cheese
1/2 cup halved red grapes

Sort and rinse lentils (sometimes you find little stones amongst the lentils). In a pot, cover with water by a few inches and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to a simmer and cook until lentils are tender all the way through which should take about 30 minutes. Keep water level up throughout cooking time, adding more water if needed. Drain, but reserve some of the cooking liquid--maybe a half cup.

In a wide shallow bowl, toss the lentils with the vinegar (about a tablespoon, more or less to taste), salt and fresh ground black pepper, and let sit 5 minutes. Taste and add more salt, pepper or vinegar if needed.

Add EVOO, shallots and parsley (or any other herb or diced vegetable combo you like), and stir. If mixture seems too dry add some of the reserved cooking liquid.

Like many dishes, this one is better after sitting for some time, or even the next day.

Enjoy!