Black lentil salad with watermelon

One of the main ingredients of the salad is black beluga lentils. This legume has Canadian roots, but is widely used in Asian and Indian cuisines, and is also very appreciated for its useful properties. It is one of the favorite ingredients in vegetarian and Ayurvedic cuisines.

To start, cook the lentils until tender. It will take about 20 minutes. We salt the finished lentils, let them stand for a minute in water, and then filter and put them on a baking sheet to cool and dry.

The pulp of watermelon is separated from the crust and cleaned of seeds. Cut the watermelon into large cubes. Cherry tomatoes are cut into quarters, and we tear the mozzarella with our hands into pieces of medium size.

We put all these ingredients in a deep salad bowl, trying to preserve the juice of watermelon and tomatoes. Basil leaves are stacked, rolled into a tight roll and cut into thin strips. We send the basil in a bowl to the already prepared ingredients.

Add the cooled and dried lentils to the salad, season it with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and gently, trying not to mash the watermelon and tomatoes, mix.

Ready-made salad is served, decorated as desired. I prefer to serve a salad with basil leaves and balsamic glaze (obtained as a result of evaporation of balsamic vinegar).

Bon appetit!