Mediterranean Lentil Salad - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

Today's Recipe
If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...
This easy to prepare Mediterranean-style recipe makes a great side salad or a perfect meatless lunch or dinner addition to your Healthiest Way of Eating. Enjoy!

Mediterranean Lentil Salad
 
 
Prep and Cook Time: Prep: 20 min; Cooking: 25 min; Chill: 1 hr
Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup dried green lentils (you want to end up with 2 cups cooked)
• 2 cups water
• 3 oz canned/jar roasted bell peppers*, chopped
• 2 TBS finely minced onion
• 2 medium cloves garlic, pressed
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 3 TBS balsamic vinegar
• 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
• 2 TBS + 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• salt and cracked black pepper to taste
• 1 bunch young dandelion leaves or arugula, chopped
• * If you prefer, you can roast the bell peppers yourself

Directions:

1. Wash lentils, remove any foreign matter, and drain.
2. Combine lentils and 2 cups lightly salted water in medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and cook at low temperature for about 20 minutes, or until lentils are cooked but still firm. Cook gently so lentils don't get mushy. When done, drain any excess water, and lightly rinse under cold water. Continue to drain excess water.
3. Mince onion and press garlic and let sit for 5 minutes to bring out their hidden health-promoting benefits.
4. Place lentils in a bowl and add peppers, onion, garlic, basil, walnuts, vinegar, and 2 TBS olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Marinate for at least 1 hour before serving.
5. Toss dandelion or arugula with 2 TBS olive oil, 1 TBS lemon juice, salt and pepper. Serve on plate with lentils.

Serves 4 Printer Friendly Version of Mediterranean Lentil Salad
In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Mediterranean Lentil Salad
Healthy Food Tip

Is pearl barley the same as whole grain barley or has it been refined and lost some of its nutrients?

Pearl barley is not the same as whole grain barley. Following is an explanation of the difference between whole grain barleys-such as hulless barley and hulled barley-and pearl barley.
Like many of its fellow grains, the barley grain contains an outermost hull that is not considered digestible. For this reason, the outermost hull must be removed from the grain, and this removal requires some processing.
There is a special variety of barley available in some natural foods stores called "hulless barley." In this variety, the outer hull is so loosely attached to the grain that very little processing (if any at all) is needed to remove it.
From a nutritional standpoint, however, hulless barley is not essential, because few nutrients are lost with removal of the hull alone. Hulled barley and hulless barley would both be considered whole grain barley, and both make good choices from a nutritional standpoint.
Pearl barley takes the processing procedure one step further. With pearl barley, not only has the hull been removed, but the remaining grain has also been polished or "pearled" to some degree. The amount of polishing may vary significantly, however. In general, barley is increasingly polished (and increasingly robbed of nutrients) when you move down the line from regular to medium to fine to baby pearled barley.
An interesting category of barley that lies in between hulled and pearled barley (both from a processing and a nutritional standpoint) is pot barley, also sometimes called scotch barley. In this form of barley, the hull has been polished off, but the polishing process isn't taken much further, leaving most of the remaining grain intact. Although not as fully whole grain as hulled barley, pot barley is still a better source of nutrients than pearled barley and a good nutritional choice.
One final note: in some natural food stores, you will also see "hulled barley" referred to as "dehulled barley."
For more information on this topic, please see:

• Barley