Spicy Lentil Salad and Fennel Potatoes

So I made this lentil salad—supposedly the "best lentil salad." It was actually probably the best way I've ever eaten lentils, but I don't know how amazing it was. The first night that I made it, it was just really spicy. That's actually where most of the work of this recipe was—in measuring out all the spices! I think the only changes I made were using regular green lentils (which held up just fine, since I left them al dente instead of cooking them to mush like most people do to lentils), and I also reduced the oil to 1/4 cup.

I will, say, though, that the leftovers just kept getting better and better as the flavors melded and chilled out a little. The first night that I made this, there was just too much going on (and way too much heat) for me to really enjoy it, but in the next few days, it actually got pretty good. I'm not sure when I'd make this again—it was a bit of work for something that wasn't even that good until a few days later, but it's still a fine recipe, and I do give it a lot of credit for being the first time that I've actually thought lentils were good. Another thing we discovered was that this particular recipe made way too much—we were eating it for days, and we still had enough leftovers to take to a dinner party. And we still had leftovers after that. It doesn't look like that much, but it makes a frig ton.



We also made these fennel potatoes, which were pretty interesting. I haven't cooked much with fennel seeds, so these were some pretty new flavors. Is this going to become a regular in my cooking lineup? Unlikely. But it was really fun to take a pretty standard dish and try it with a bold, unfamiliar spice. I definitely enjoyed it, but I think my biggest hangup is that I just don't know what to serve something so boldly spiced with. Normally I pair bold dishes with rice or potatoes or pasta, but this is already straight carbs, so I'm unsure.
Anyway, the only recipe mod I made was using 1 tablespoon of oil instead of 3. The other thing that I wish I had done was dicing or slicing the garlic instead of just tossing whole, smashed cloves in. After they cooked, a smashed garlic clove looked a lot like a bite of smashed potato, which meant you had to pay attention to what your fork was spearing lest you wind up with a big bite of nothing but garlic.