French Fridays with Dorie: Lentil, lemon and tuna-less salad

Errr… ok. This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe is very much an “interpretation” of the recipe in question (Lentil, lemon and tuna salad, p 140). Not only do I absolutely not eat tuna (and I wasn’t sure Neil would be sharing this with me), but when I came to the recipe, all smug-like that I had procured proper French lentils, I realised that I most certainly did not have a secret stash of preserved lemons in the pantry. So, I improvised. I am sure Dorie wouldn’t mind, right?  Just some extra lemon zest and a pinch of coarse salt seemed to do the trick.

I also didn’t have black olive tapenade, so I used green. And then I didn’t have any red wine vinegar (bad foodie – running out!) so I used a dash of balsamic and some extra lemon juice.

And you know what – it wasn’t Dorie’s exact recipe but it was pretty good. And I *get* the idea of this dish. Which is the point, right?  Will I make it again? Most likely. It kind of makes me feel like I am in Paris. Which, you know, I will be in 27 days. Not that I am counting or anything…

French Fridays with Dorie participants do not publish the recipes on our blogs, rather, we prefer if you purchase Around My French Table for yourselves (trust me, you definitely want this book!) which you can do here on Amazon or Amazon Canada. Or for free worldwide shipping, buy from The Book Depository. Go on, treat yourself – join us!

Join me in Paris this summer – foodie tour of Paris this July! Read all about it here. Only one spot left!!!

26 thoughts on “French Fridays with Dorie: Lentil, lemon and tuna-less salad”

  1. It’s substitution galore at my place too! Glad you enjoy the salad. Do you like canned salmon? I always keep a stash of the good ones from BC and they are wonderful alternative to tuna. No shame in counting down. I would too in your shoes. 🙂

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  2. I SO have those days in the kitchen. Those days where I assume that I have all of the ingredients and then slowly find out that I am missing almost half of them. Sometimes it’s a disaster, but other times it just seems to work out. Looks like yours more than just worked out, well done.

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  3. Great improvisation…I usually end up running to the grocery story 6 times when I have days like that. I like your method better. My countdown is now less than 48 hours…I can understand your excitement!!!!

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  4. I was liking you, Mardi, and forgiving you for all you substitutions, thinking you were very clever, and I even was impressed with your photographs since lentils are not photogenic. Then you had to throw in the 27 days until Paris and all my complimentary comments went down the drain. France is in my future but not in 27 days. So envious.

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  5. Not only a fellow Canuck but a fellow non tuna fan, Mardi I loves ya. This looks great and you worked it all out perfectly. I would lick the bowl clean for sure.

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  6. Looks great to me! I used Meyer lemon olive oil instead of the preserved lemons. The lemon infusion was so strong, it held up against the olives and the mustard.

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  7. Mr. Neil actually DID end up having. And he enjoyed it.

    In fact, he didn’t miss the tuna, until reading this post. 🙂

    Now I want the tuna version. So does Cleo.

    Reply

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