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The Food Goddess is in the Kitchen! I am delighted beyond words to present my friend, my pal, Kali Amanda Browne (daughter of the beauteous and talented Marie) aka The Food Goddess. Enjoy!

Lentil Salad

1 bag Trader Joe's ready to use, steamed lentils
1 can drained and rinsed garbanzos

15 grape tomatoes, sliced
1/4 cup each: black olives, green olives, pepper, shredded carrot
1 tbsp chopped onion

salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp wine vinegar

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

Mix in a bowl, refrigerate and serve.

I rarely start this column with a recipe. A single recipe may be the centerpiece of it, but you never start a column with the recipe. That is the piece d' resistance! Starting the column with the recipe is like putting the punch line before the joke.

But I did it this way because this simple recipe has changed us in a profound way.

A coworker (the Goddess Judi) had been signing praises about this salad for time immemorial. She had never made it and had leftovers; everyone raved about it; it was a hit both at home and abroad! Judi, in short, had us salivating for months and months over this deceptively plain thing.

And really, read over the ingredients again (I'll wait). Any idiot can put that together. All of the ingredients are delicious, so you expect it would taste pretty good. Intellectualizing the recipe simply does not ready you for the magnificent genius that is this salad! It is fresh, hearty, filling; full of protein and vitamins.

Delicious is a great reason to share a recipe. But you re dealing with a woman who lives to be a rebel and this recipe allows for so many changes that it is a veritable tool for anarchy in a bowl!

1. Using baby heirloom tomatoes allows for an explosion of color.
2. Using yellow peppers makes for a crisper but milder taste than red or green ones; using a spicy pepper is not for the meek.
3. Substituting red onions makes for a hotter result.
4. Using extra virgin olive oil makes for a more velvety, richer finish.
5. Rice vinegar or any artisan vinegars adds new tastes and dimension to the salad.
6. Balsamic vinegar makes it a little sweeter and smokier.
7. Lemon juice instead of vinegar makes for a different kind of tart.
8. Top with chives for a garlicky taste, parsley for a milder taste, oregano for a spicier taste, mint is fruitier, dill is aromatic . . .
9. Adding lentil salad to boiled macaroni makes for an awesome cold salad (that may even serve as a main course on a hot, muggy day no one wants to enter the kitchen).
10. Adding a cup of this salad to prepared rice makes for a fantastic side dish!
11. The recipe calls for the TJ's steamed brown lentils, but lentils are easy to prepare and different color lentils have degrees of mildness and a multi-colored salad is an appetizing image as well.
12. Goes equally well with seafood, poultry, beef and pork as it does as a wholly-vegetarian fare.
13. For those whose internal systems cannot deal with the acidity in tomatoes, you may substitute with roasted pimentos for texture or pickled artichoke hearts for the tartness.

You know how I always encourage you to experiment? This recipe begs you to go wild. Do it. You'll thank me later.

You can email me at kali.templeofdoom@gmail.com.