I'll bet you thought I fell into a hole. No such luck.

This salad could be a main dish for lunch on a hot day, plenty of protein.

Lentil Salad
1 pound lentils, rinsed
3/4 cup salad or olive oil
1/4 cup vinegar (could be wine vinegar)
2 teaspoons salt
3 shallots or green onions, minced
1 small clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 tomato, cut in wedges
Shredded lettuce
(Sliced hard cooked eggs)

Cook lentils in water to cover until just tender, about 40 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water. Drain well. Combine the oil, vinegar, salt, shallots, garlic, parsley, and mustard. Ad to the cooked lentils and allow to marinate several hours or overnight. Serve on salad plates on a bed of lettuce with tomato wedges and hard cooked eggs if desired. Makes about 6 cups salad.

Lentil Supper

Serve this with crusty French bread. I think you could make this with vegetarian hamburger-like product, but might want to cook it separately and add it at the very end in case a long simmer might toughen it.

1 cup lentils
2 cups water
1/2 cup sliced onion
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup sliced carrot
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 cup cooked or fresh tomatoes

Wash the lentils and cover with water; soak for one hour or longer. Place all ingredients in a 2 quart saucepan. Cover and simmer 1 hour or until lentils are tender. Serves 4.