Crystal and I have been nostalgically reading through our old blog posts, and when we came across our Frozen-inspired bread series, we were instantly reminded of the fun we had creating it! So we agreed. It was due time for another series. This time we’re taking inspiration from our favorite Philly restaurants. Since we’ll be graduating from Penn this May, the next few months could be our last of Philly livin’. Thus, we thought it fitting to reflect on our favorite dine-out dishes over the past four years and re-create them! That way, wherever we physically end up next, we can bring with us a taste of Philly.

First up is the French Lentil Salad we had at FARMiCiA, a farm-to-table restaurant in Old City. Our gripe with most restaurants is that they’re usually carb, meat, and fat heavy, but at FARMiCiA, we were excited by the menu’s bevy of veggies – there’s even a dish called Mega Dose of Vegetables & Grains. We shared that along with the French Lentil Salad, gnocchi, and dessert. Neither of us had eaten French lentils before, and the French Lentil Salad ended up being the highlight of our meal, even besting the gnocchi! The naturally peppery lentils were dressed in a sherry vinaigrette with diced pepper and carrot studs and a baked goat cheese cap, all poised on a plate of greens. It was a rather handsome dish that was luckily for us relatively easy to re-create, too!

French Lentil Salad

Makes 2 meals or 6 sides

Ingredients

• 1 cup French lentils
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 5 mini sweet peppers, diced
• Few handfuls of greens
• 1 oz goat cheese 

For the vinaigrette:

• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground pepper
• ¼ tsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Boil the lentils for 15-20 min till cooked through, and bake the goat cheese at 350 F for 15 min or till the edges brown.
2. Meanwhile, stir-fry the carrot and sweet peppers (with ~½ tbsp oil and salt to taste), and make the vinaigrette. To make the vinaigrette, mix together all ingredients minus the oil; then slowly drizzle in the oil, mixing till emulsified.
3. Toss together the cooked lentils, carrot, and sweet peppers in the vinaigrette. To assemble the dish, layer the greens on a plate, pile on the lentil mixture, and top with baked goat cheese.