French Lentil Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing

My son and I were out for Happy Hour at this Greek place.  We tried this lentil salad below.  When it arrived, it didn't look promising - not the most attractive dish, but its taste blew us away.  We gobbled it all up.  I had to try and recreate it at home.  This became Friday night dinner...

LENTIL SALAD

lentils, arugula, green onion, mint, dill, diced tomato,

nutritional yeast, tahini and lemon dressing

What they don't say in their description is the crispy chickpeas on top. Such a great texture contrast to this.  I thought the nutritional yeast was Parmesan cheese, so it was a great foil in it.  Theirs was vegan, mine was not.  If I was doing vegan, I would have tossed raw seeds with the nutritional yeast.  Anyway, what I conjured up:

For the dressing:

• 1/4 cup tahini
• Small splash of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• Small splash of apple cider vinegar
• 1 small garlic clove, pushed through garlic press
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 2 teaspoons real maple syrup, or to taste
• Crushed red chili flakes, to taste
• Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste

I made the dressing first, whisked it in a bowl, and let it sit while I prepared the salad.

• I cup of organic French lentils, prepared the night before and cold from the fridge (I boiled them in low sodium vegetable stock and then mixed apple cider vinegar, chili flakes and S&P with them before I put them in the the fridge)
• 1 can (398 ml) organic chickpeas, rinsed very well
• 2 roma tomatoes, diced small
• Small handful of organic fresh mint, torn into tiny pieces, to taste
• 142 grams container of organic baby arugula
• Generous 1/2 cup of feta cheese, crumbled by hand
• Roasted, salted pumpkin seeds, for garnish
• Raw sunflower seeds, for garnish

Doing that was pretty quick and easy, as you can see below, arugula first:

Tomatoes next:

Mint followed:

Then the chickpeas:

Lentils:

I tossed it ever so gently to not to crush anything or mash the lentils.  I mixed the dressing in and continued the soft lifting/turning of everything until well combined.

The feta was last and one more gentle mix.

I garnished with the seeds and served.  I realized I forgot a red onion, but will do that next time.  It looked and tasted fine as is.

OH YUM!  This was fantastic!  Son said it was better than the restaurant but he loves feta cheese, so I'm guessing that's why.  That aside, the salad POPPED in flavor and had citrus, tart, sweet & spicy notes.  A very good balance - and that mint is just perfection in there.  I can see a lot more of these salads in my future.