Quick puy lentil, celery and herb salad

Prep Cook Serves

Cost 10-15 min 5-30 min

2 with leftovers

About 80p a head

230g uncooked puy lentils, or 500g ready-cooked lentils ½ red onion, peeled and sliced waferthin, or 40g shopbought pickled and sliced red onions (drained weight)

4 tbsp red-wine vinegar

Fine sea salt

100g frozen podded edamame beans, defrosted

150g celery, trimmed and cut wafer-thin 20g mint, leaves picked

40g spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

½ tbsp dijon mustard 6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

This is a throw-it-all-in-a-bowl salad that I like to make for lunch. You could make it really quickly by using ready-cooked puy lentils and shop-bought pickled onions, but it’s much more economical to make your own lentils and pickled onions (about 80p a head, rather than £1.70), the instructions for which are given below.

If you’re cooking the lentils from scratch, rinse them well, tip into a small saucepan for which you have a lid and add 460ml water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until the lentils are cooked but still retain a little bite. Drain, wash under the cold tap so they stop cooking, then put to one side.

Meanwhile, if you’re making your own pickled onions, put the sliced onion in a small bowl and cover with two tablespoons of red-wine vinegar and half a teaspoon of salt. Scrunch with your hands to wilt the onion, then leave to pickle for at least 10 minutes. Use 40g (drained weight) pickled onion for this dish; the rest will keep in the fridge for a few days – use in other salads or for sandwiches.

To assemble the salad, put everything in a bowl with the mustard, two tablespoons of redwine vinegar and a teaspoon of salt, mix really well, then add more vinegar, salt or olive oil to taste.

Eat straight away or pack into a lunchbox for later.