{"id":4873,"date":"2018-05-18T09:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-05-18T15:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/villasentieri.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=4873"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:58:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:58:44","slug":"auntie-helens-lentil-salad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/18\/auntie-helens-lentil-salad\/","title":{"rendered":"Auntie Helen’s Lentil Salad"},"content":{"rendered":"

May 18, 2018<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Auntie Helen had a way with lentils.<\/p>\n

In addition to making lentil salad for summer cook-outs, she taught me that cooked lentils, topped with homemade tomato sauce, make a great main (or side) dish for a cold winter\u2019s day.<\/p>\n

Auntie Helen liked her scotch.\u00a0 On the rocks.\u00a0 And she was not shy about quantity.<\/p>\n

Auntie Louise liked gin.\u00a0 Also on the rocks.\u00a0 Also not shy about quantity.<\/p>\n

It was mostly under their tutelage that I went from drinking Bourbon Manhattans (Old Grand Dad at the time) to Bourbon, also on the rocks.\u00a0 This was somewhere around the age of 19.<\/p>\n

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Auntie Helen in 1976<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I soon made the jump from Old Grand Dad to Jack Daniels, which remained my tipple of choice for decades.\u00a0 Now I\u2019ve branched out to a wide array of bourbons but always on the rocks and in respectable quantities.<\/p>\n

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Auntie Helen and Auntie Louise were born, shortly after the turn of the 20th century, in a palazzo in Rome, now part of the American Embassy.\u00a0 After their parents lost everything for the second time (there was talk that the first time it happened, they were bailed out by one of the Stroganoffs) the family emigrated from Italy to America.\u00a0 Their father, a Count in Italy, worked delivering bread in Trenton, NJ.<\/p>\n

Auntie Helen and Auntie Louise both became schoolteachers.\u00a0 Neither married.\u00a0 They lived together their entire lives.<\/p>\n

They had a sweet little house on Yardley Road, just steps from the Yardley town line, in Morrisville, New Jersey.\u00a0 I spent many weekends at their house, a little over an hour from where I lived in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Auntie Helen did the cooking.\u00a0 Auntie Louise made drinks and helped to clean up.<\/p>\n

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Auntie Louise in 1976<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though they came from a background that was more privileged than most immigrants of the time, they had little by the time the family got to the United States.\u00a0 They did what many immigrants did, they assimilated and became almost \u201chyper\u201d American.\u00a0 I never heard either of them speak a word of Italian.\u00a0 And, while Auntie Helen cooked an array of Roman specialties, she also cooked a lot of American food, including Impossible Pies, more the savory ones than the sweet ones; homemade Pumpkin Chiffon Pie (the only thing she cooked that I didn\u2019t like); and cheese and egg strata for brunch (with lots of bacon on the side!).<\/p>\n

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I recently found a series of Impossible Pie recipes that Auntie Helen wrote out for me.\u00a0 I can\u2019t promise that I\u2019ll make each of them, but I will post the recipes, in her own handwriting.\u00a0 If nothing else, they\u2019ll be a bit of a time capsule.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, please enjoy my take on Auntie Helen\u2019s lentil salad.

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Auntie Helen's Lentil Salad<\/h2>\n
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Auntie Helen\u2019s lentil salad was more of a general concept that a definitive recipe. Feel free to add other ingredients to this, like a handful of chopped black oil-cured olives, some sliced scallions, or a sprinkling of dry oregano. You can replace some of the olive oil with the oil from a can of anchovies or add a teaspoon of anchovy paste if you\u2019d like. It will add an umami touch without tasting fishy.<\/div>\n
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Prep Time <\/span>30 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Cook Time <\/span>30 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Total Time <\/span>9 hours<\/span><\/span> hrs<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n
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Servings: <\/span>12<\/span> people<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ingredients
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