Cold Salad Supper

One of our favorite restaurants in London is Food For Thought in Covent Garden. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like they have their own website which is a shame, but they are always so busy they probably don't see the point. The only things I've ever ordered there is their Mega Salad (which consists of usually about 4 different salads) or their Mega Salad with Quiche. They use all fresh ingredients as far as I can tell, and Dan and I often say that we should follow their lead and make different salads for dinner. So tonight, that's what I've done. Of course, I could have made more, but the amount of the two I made appear as if they could feed a small army, so I didn't carry on.

Part of tonight's dinner is a red lentil salad. Looks good, doesn't it? Tastes good too. I wanted to make something a bit different so I looked online and found this recipe , but to be honest it's mostly the same ingredients I usually use... with a couple of little twists. It's not uncommon for me to whip up some red or green lentils , throw in some balsamic vinegar, olive oil, green onions and cherry tomatoes. When I'm feeling adventurous I'll put in some mixed seeds as well. Occasionally I'll use bell peppers (although it's not really my favorite) and garlic. It's a quick, healthy salad which we usually will eat with falafel, various veggies and hummus. The twists on this recipe is the addition of cucumber, fresh basil, and feta cheese. It was perfect because all I had to go to the shop for was a cucumber. We even had feta cheese in the fridge!

The other part of tonight's dinner is a cold pasta salad with pesto. It was the first time I made home-made pesto, and I'm not sure why considering we almost always have a fresh basil plant in the kitchen. I blended some basil, olive oil, garlic and pine nuts. When I tasted it, it wasn't quite right. I realized afterwards that I had forgotten the Parmesan cheese, which I finely grated, mixed in and it was tasty as could be. I cooked up some whole wheat fusilli and mixed the pesto in, then added some toasted pine nuts and chopped black olives. This would obviously taste good hot as well, but I'm gonna serve it cold with grated Parmesan on the top.

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