A hint of warm, earthy cumin adds depth to this wonderfully crunchy and satisfying lentil and vegetable salad. More

If I had one week left to live, I'd have to devote a meal to a plate of French lentils. They have a flavor and bite lacking in the common supermarket variety, which too often melts into starchy mush. Not that this dish is much of a looker: It's olive drab lentils with brown sausage. The arugula, which you'd hope would add color, wilts down to puny green strands that snake through the bowl. But what it lacks in aesthetics it makes up for in flavor, which packs a wallop. Cloves add sweet and spicy balance to the peppery arugula and mustard. Their flavor is there but not overwhelmingly so, exactly where it should be. More