Marinated Lentil Salad

Ingredients

• 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Freshly Cracked Pepper
• 1 cup dry brown lentils
• 1/2 bunch parsley
• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• 1/4 small red onion
• 2 oz feta, crumbled

Directions

1. Prepare the lentils the way your package tells you to. For most brown lentils, start by bringing 3 cups of water to a boil in a pot, add the lentils, and let them keep boiling for 20 minutes, until they are tender. Pour them into a colander, then rinse them briefly with cool water until they have cooled.
2. While the lentils cook, make the lemon garlic dressing. With a microplane, zester, or small-holed cheese grater, take off about 1 Tbsp of zest from the lemon, using only that thin yellow outside layer. Put the zest aside. Squeeze the lemon, then measure out 1/4 cup of juice for the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice with the olive oil, minced garlic, oregano, salt, and a little freshly cracked pepper. Set the dressing aside for now.
3. Wash the parsley well, shake away as much moisture as you can, and pull the leaves off the stems. Give the leaves a rough chop. Halve the grape tomatoes, then finely dice the red onion.
4. Once the lentils are tender, cool, and nicely drained, move them to a large bowl. Add the parsley, tomatoes, red onion, crumbled feta, lemon zest, and the dressing you made. Stir everything together until the salad is evenly coated.
5. You can eat it right away, or chill it until you are ready. Before serving, give the salad another stir so the dressing and all those good bits get mixed back through.