I couldn’t make a video all about cooking with lentils without including a salad recipe. Personally I love lentils in salads. They add a nice bite as well as a heartiness to the dish which I really appreciate in salads. For this salad in particular I make use of the beluga lentil which has a lovely shape to it even after cooking and a beautiful dark colour. It gives great contrast to the other colourful components that makeup the salad like the roasted carrots and peppery rocket. For crunch I add some toasted hazelnuts and for sweetness some fried cranberries. In a way I feel this salad gives a little bit of autumn vibes but this combination is too good not to share, autumn or not!

If you decide to only make one component from this salad it has to be the dressed lentils. I know that’s basically the main component t play here but it’s seriously so delicious and I think I could eat a bowl of just that for dinner most days of the week. Probably better to make the whole shebang though to get a few more goodies into the system but you know, you do you and enjoy!

Malin x

Beluga Lentil Salad with Grainy Mustard Dressing

Serves 3-4.

INGREDIENTS:

For the lentils:

0,75 cup dry beluga lentils, soaked for an hour if you wish

1 tsp vegetable stock powder

1 tsp soy sauce or tamari

1 bay leaf

1,5 cups water

For the dressing:

1 small red onion, finely chopped

1 heaped tbsp grainy mustard

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp water

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tsp dried Italian herbs or herbs de provence

Salt and black pepper, to taste

For the salad:

3-4 carrots, cut into 2 inch long matchsticks

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

6 large handfuls rocket

0,5 cup toasted hazelnuts

0,3 cup dried cranberries

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius fan assisted to prepare it for roasting the carrots.

Drain and rinse the soaked lentils and place them in a pot together with the vegetable stock powder or a crumbled vegetable stock cube, the bay leaf and the water. Bring it to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook for roughly 20-25 minutes or until the lentils are soft. They should have absorbed the water when they are finished cooking but if you find they are to your liking before that happens you can simply drain away the excess water.

While the lentils are cooking cut the carrots into stick shaped pieces and place them on a lined baking tray. Drizzle them with the rapeseed oil and sprinkle salt and black pepper over them. Toss to coat, spread them out evenly on the tray and roast them in the centre of the oven for roughly 25-30 minutes or until tender.

Prepare the dressing by combining all the ingredients in a mixing bowl large enough to hold your cooked lentils. When the lentils are cooked add them to the bowl toss to combine.

Serve in individual bowls or on a sharing platter. First layer the rocket as a base. Then add the dressed lentils and carrots on top followed by the toasted hazelnuts as well as some dried cranberries to add a little bit of sweetness.

beluga black carrots cranberries dressing dried grainy hazelnuts lentils main mustard roaster salad side toasted