You can make this salad up to 3 days in advance by combining everything but the fresh herbs in an airtight container and refrigerating. Toss with the herbs just before serving.

Serves: 4 to 6

Prep: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

½ yellow onion, finely chopped

1 medium tomato, cut into ¼-inch (½ cm) pieces

½ English cucumber, seeded and cut into ¼-inch (½ cm) pieces

Salt

Pepper

2 cups (50g) roughly chopped fresh parsley

½ cup (15g) roughly chopped fresh mint leaves

½ cup (90g) pomegranate arils

½ cup (40g) cooked brown or green lentils

1 tsp lemon zest

Juice of 1 lemon (about 3 tbsp)

3 tbsp olive oil

¼ cup (35g) sesame seeds

2 tsp za’atar

Method:

• In a medium bowl, combine the chopped onion, tomato, and cucumber. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. This helps remove excess water from the vegetables.
• While the vegetables are salting, combine the parsley, mint, pomegranate arils, and cooked lentils in a serving bowl.
• Use a colander to drain the onion and tomato mixture, pressing out any excess liquid. Add the mixture to the serving bowl.
• Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, sesame seeds, and za’atar and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Variations:  Add 2 tsp of ground sumac to this recipe for a tangier variation. Omit the sesame seeds and add hemp seeds for added protein.
  
  Extracted from Nosh: Plant-Forward Recipes Celebrating Modern Jewish Cuisine (to be published on March 5)  available now to pre-order.