Padma Lakshmi's Lentil Salad

By OhApril

“Top Chef” host Padma Lakshmi joined Ellen to cook up some delicious looking vegan food.
First up was a protein and nutrient power-packed lentil salad. This lentil, apple, bell pepper, coconut and ginger concoction is one of the items Lakshmi dines on to detox and lose weight after weeks of heavy eating on “Top Chef”. The host admits to gaining as much as thirteen pounds while filming, and then taking a few months to drop the weight.

Padma made this salad on Ellen recently (watch here: http://www.ellentv.com/2013/01/08/padma-lakshmis-lentil-salad/) but she also added some celery, carrot, & mustard seed but they are not listed in the recipe online so I added them below as optional.

Ingredients

• 2 cups beluga black lentils
• 1 green apple, cored and diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1 large jalapeno pepper, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced (optional)
• 1 stick of celery, diced (optional)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• juice of 1 1/2 ripe lemons
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup loosely packed, chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• black mustard seed to taste (optional)

Details

Servings 6
Adapted from ellentv.com

Preparation

Step 1

Wash the lentils and soak them for 2 hours in tepid water; drain. In a deep pot, add 8 cups of water to the lentils, bring to a boil, cover, and cook on low heat for 20 to 25 minutes. Rinse the lentils with cold water and drain. Make sure the lentils are cooked but firm, not mushy. In a large bowl, mix together the lentils, apple, bell pepper, jalapeno, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and parsley. Stir and set aside in the fridge. Just before serving, heat the sesame oil on medium-high heat. When hot, roast the ginger and coconut (and mustard seed, if using) for a few minutes until golden and toasty. Sprinkle this garnish over the lentils and serve immediately.