Curried Lentil Salad

The rent to live at my parents’ house while attending University was cooking one dinner a week for the family. My sister and I happily signed the lease. I hadn’t much experience and was frantic trying to cook a whole meal while reading a recipe. Dinner was always late and vegetables often dropped from the menu. Techniques like ‘folding in’ and ‘blanching’ were mysterious and nothing was intuitive. I’d dirty every dish in the kitchen and turn out meals that were eaten out of politeness. Crumbly fishcakes, watery clam sauce that refused to cling to linguine, and mushy stir-frys are some failures I remember. There were more.

With time and practice (sometimes) came success. I felt proud when a dutiful mouth took a bite then relaxed into a smile and reported, “Mmm, good” or something to that effect. My dad is not inclined to lie for the sake of niceties so you knew you had a dud when his end of the table was silent. These days he’ll just tell you if he doesn’t like it. We appreciate his candour … most of the time.

The best purchase I made during these first years of cooking was The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook. The 350 recipes are tested extensively and every one I’ve made is very good. What’s more, the techniques are easy, ingredients accessible and most recipes can be executed in 30 minutes or made ahead. this is still my favourite, most reliable cookbook and as a parent, I cherish it.

All this to say, I wanted to share one of the most thumbed recipes in this book: Curried Lentil, Wild Rice and Orzo Salad. I often serve it for company and alongside fish on a weeknight. Kids love it too.

Curried Lentil, Wild Rice and Orzo Salad

* The original recipe (below) calls for currants and slivered almonds but I often substitute flaked unsweetened coconut for the almonds. I’ve also used barberries instead of currants which are fairly sour and only slightly sweet. They work well if (like me) you don’t like much sweetness in your dinner. 

1/2 cup wild rice
2/3 cup green or brown lentils (I use one small can)
1/2 cup orzo pasta
1/2 cup currants
1/4 finely chopped red onion
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Dressing:

1/4 cup cup white wine vinegar
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp each granulated sugar, salt and ground corriander
1/4 tsp each tumeric, paprika, nutmeg, ground cardamom
Pinch each cinnamon, ground cloves and cayenne
1/3 cup vegetable oil

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cover and cook wild rice for 35 minutes or until tender. In a separate saucepan of boiling salted water, cover and cook lentils for about 25 minutes. In third saucepan of boiling salted water, cook orzo for about 5 minutes or until just tender.

Drain rice, lentils and orzo; transfer to large bowl. Add currents and onion; set aside.

*To cut down on dishes, I cook the rice then put in large bowl to cool slightly then use the same pot to cook the orzo, rinse a can of lentils and put everything into the bowl with the rice

DRESSING: In a small bowl whisk together vinegar with mustard, sugar, salt and spices. Whisk in oil. Pour over rice mixture and toss gently.

Let salad cool completely; cover and refrigerate for 4 hours. (Make-ahead: refridgerate for up to 2 days.) To serve, sprinkle with almonds.

*While it does taste better after it sits a while, it still tastes great right away so if you don’t have time to let it sit, don’t sweat it.