Orange Basil Lentil Salad

I haven't posted a recipe in quite a while. This is a salad that I've now made twice, with good repeatability. The first time I came up with it, I took it to a party where it was complimented by all. No leftovers either. Yes, it was a bit risky to take a dish I literally created on the spot to a party, but I'm pretty confident in my cooking skills. I made it again last night for my Xmas Eve dinner. Total prep time is about an hour if you take time to drink a glass or two of pinot gris while you are puttering about in the kitchen.

Lentils, 1 to 2 cups dried
Fresh basil, lots
Red onion
Feta cheese crumbles, 6 oz or so (one small container)
Navel orange (one or two depending on size)
Dried cranberries, about 1/2 to 2/3 cup
Fresh greens (arugula, spinach, mixed greens, etc)
Olive oil
Honey
Apple cider vinegar (optional)
Black pepper, fresh ground

Rinse the lentils in a strainer. Cook 1 to 2 cups of lentils on low to medium heat (simmer, don't boil). Don't worry about having extra water as you can drain that off. Use French green lentils if you want to be fancy. Set the lentils aside to cool. When cool, put 1 to 2 cups cooked lentils, drained, in a large salad bowl. The lentils don't take long at all to cook. You can make them ahead of time if you want.

Finely slice a red onion and caramelize with some olive oil. This will take about 20 minutes on low to medium heat. Stir often. Set aside to cool. When cool to the touch, add to the large salad bowl.

Put the feta cheese into the large salad bowl.

Add a large handful of dried cranberries to the large salad bowl.

Finely dice a very large handful of fresh basil leaves. Put 1/3 of the leaves in a measuring cup and put the rest in the large salad bowl.

Note that the order in which you add things to the salad bowl is not actually all that important. Don't add the lentils and onions until they are cool though.

I like feta cheese and used an entire small container. Feel free to exercise more restraint. 

I find this recipe only needs 1 large navel orange but you could use two if you wanted. You might want to increase honey and basil if you use two oranges. Cut the navel orange into quarters and peel two of the quarters and divide into sections. Slice the sections into 1 cm-long pieces and add to the large salad bowl. Squeeze the juice out of the other two quarters into the measuring cup.

To the measuring cup, add some olive oil, a tablespoon of honey, and lots of fresh ground black pepper. If you want the dressing to have more of a bite, add 1/2 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Otherwise, it will be fairly sweet. Stir very well to dissolve the honey and mix the oil and orange juice.

Add your greens to the salad bowl. Fill that bowl up! Give the dressing another good stir and pour over the top. Gently mix everything well. Enjoy!