BBQ Veggies Sandwich with Salted Cucumber Salad

Place lentils and water with 1 teaspoon of the salt in a small pot with a lid. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low and a steady, gentle simmer. Cover partially. Cook for about 20 minutes returning to stir occasionally.

Meanwhile make the cucumber salad.

It might seem rough to do but snap the cucumber in half into a large bowl. You’ll have jagged edges. Snap each piece in half again. Make a small slice with a paring knife in order to be able to snap the piece in half lengthwise. Then snap them all again. This is sometimes called torn, or smashed, cucumber salad and the jagged edges make it interesting, release the liquid, and pick up the dressing differently in all of the nooks and crannies. You could slice it with a knife if you prefer.

To the cucumbers, add 1 teaspoon rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, ¼ bunch chopped parsley, 1 teaspoon olive oil. Gently toss to coat. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon of Maldon sea salt over top and let it sit. (Maldon is a flaky French sea salt, you could use pink Himalayan salt, grey salt, or other large flake salt here. Just don’t add anything like sea salt, which has very small crystals and will taste much more salty).

In a large bowl, grate the carrot on the largest holes of a box grater. (You could use a food processor but for just one carrot, we never feel like getting the machine set up). Add the ½ teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and ¼ cup BBQ Sauce.

When the lentils are done, they’ll be completely tender but not falling apart. You may or may not have some liquid left in the pot, if you do, go ahead and strain it out, though a small amount will be ok for this recipe.

Add the hot lentils to the carrot and BBQ mixture and stir to coat.

If your buns are soft and fresh, just slice them and serve. If needed, slice and toast. Heap the warm BBQ lentils on buns and top with the lid. Serve the cucumber salad on the side.