Catfish Out of Water

This black lentil salad recipe is an amalgam of cooking dilemmas or curiosities. I was thinking about making a vegetarian Doro Wat. Doro Wat is an Ethiopian chicken stew with hardboiled eggs, berbere, niter kibbeh (spiced clarified butter), and sometimes tomato paste. Which isn't quite up my alley because I don't eat chicken. But it sometimes comes with hardboiled eggs floating in it and the idea of a stew with eggs sounded like it would hit the spot!

I'm not entirely a fan of making stew, though. I'll slowly simmer a curry all day long. But, for whatever reason, the idea of actually making any other kind of soup or stew? I'm just not quite as big of a fan! Maybe it's because I like to wrap everything that I make in a burrito one day and you absolutely cannot do that with a liquid. Or maybe it's because I really am not just a big fan of spoons?

Either way, I thought that today I would make a Doro Wat-inspired black lentil dish with hardboiled eggs and cherry tomatoes. After all, what's easier than throwing a couple of ingredients into a rice cooker and making a salad? As long as it's delicious, that's what matters! And this did not disappoint.

Gallery

Variations of Black Lentil Salad

There are a plethora of things to make with lentils. I tend to pair eggs with them because the heartiness and earthiness is nice in the morning. And I very much enjoy starting the day with a delicious and nutritious meal with eggs. But the sky is the limit. Feel free to mix and match whatever you have on hand or feel like would be a good idea!

Salad w/ Black Lentils, Hardboiled Eggs, & Tomatoes

This black lentil salad combines Ethiopian-style lentils with a Doro Wat-inspired medley of cherry tomatoes and hardboiled eggs. The more traditional meal is a stew that is often made with chicken and served with injera. I wanted a similar flavor profile, without actually having to go to the effort of making stew. Sometimes, just tossing a few ingredients into a rice cooker and coming back to a meal is the best of both worlds! All of the flavor, with none of the hassle. Besides, at the end of the day? Just having delicious food is always the goal! If it can be healthy and homemade in a pinch? That's a win in my book.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Resting Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 12 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Main Course

Cuisine Ethiopian

Servings 8 servings

Equipment

• Food Processor
• Rice Cooker
• Large Pot w/ Lid
• Stovetop
• Large Bowl

Ingredients

  

Black Lentils

• 1 tsp. ginger fresh
• 3 cloves garlic
• 12 cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric fresh
• 1/4 red. onion diced
• dash cloves whole
• dash cumin whole
• dash fenugreek whole
• dash coriander
• dash allspice
• dash paprika
• dash salt
• dash pepper
• 1 ¼ c. black lentils
• 3 c. water

Hardboiled Eggs

• 12 eggs
• splash vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar, but white vinegar or whatever you have on hand is fine)
• ice

Salad

• 1 c. black lentils
• 12 hardboiled eggs
• 12 cherry tomatoes halved

Instructions

 

Cook Lentils

• Add ginger, garlic, and cherry tomatoes to a food processor. Purée for 30 seconds, or until smooth.

  This is optional. You can dice them if you prefer. I'm not necessarily a fan of the stringiness of ginger and this resolves that problem while also creating more of a sauce.
• Add all of the ingredients to a rice cooker (tomato purée with ginger and garlic, turmeric, red onion, spices, salt, pepper, lentils, and water).
• Grind whole cloves, cumin, and fenugreek in a mortar and pestle.

  A lot of the time I prefer whole spices and grinding them in a mortar and pestle. I used whole cloves, cumin, and fenugreek. You can easily substitute ground spices and mix and match whatever you have on hand.
• Press the cook button on the rice cooker. While lentils aren't rice, it does cook the same and oftentimes better than rice in a rice cooker. It typically takes 30-45 minutes.
• When the lentils is fully cooked, fluff with a wooden spoon.

  Do not use a fork or other metal utensil. It will scratch off the nonstick surface on the rice cooker. This will leach teflon into your food and cause future dishes to stick to the bottom!

Cook Eggs

• While the lentils are cooking, add eggs and a splash of vinegar to a large pot.
• Cover with an inch of water of cold water and bring to a boil. Boil uncovered for 2 minutes.
• After 2 minutes, immediately remove the pot from heat and cover. Let sit covered for another 12 minutes.
• Meanwhile, add ice and another splash of vinegar to a large bowl. Cover with water.

  There isn't an exact amount of ice for this. Just use however much ice is needed to roughly fill the bowl. You really just need to rapidly cool the eggs to make the shell easier to remove.
• Drain the water out of the pot and quickly place the eggs in an ice bath. Let sit for 5 minutes.

  I like to crack the eggs as I'm placing them in the bowl in order to get vinegar
• To remove the shell, take one of the eggs at a time. Roll it on the counter to crack the shell and then carefully peel it.

  If you're having trouble removing the shell, rapid cooling is key. It will cause the egg to shrink slightly, making it easier to remove the shell. Adding more ice or even putting the bowl in the freezer can also help.
• Slice the eggs. I cut mine into 6 pieces by cutting once lengthwise and then slicing to more times widthwise.

Prepare Salad

• Spread lentils across a plate and cover with diced eggs and cherry tomatoes. Serve immediately.

  I had this salad with warm lentils, although it is just as delicious as a cold salad. Particularly if you chop up some lettuce or spinach.

Tips, Tricks, & Notes

• I used Fresh Turmeric in Olive Oil. You can easily substitute dried turmeric. But there is something particularly refreshing about fresh turmeric! And, if you can find it, mincing it and preserving in olive oil is the key to longevity.