This salad feels like autumn in a bowl. It smells like fall and the colors are like a seasonal rainbow. I love to make it in autumn, but the truth is I could eat it all year long. It holds up in the refrigerator for a day or two to make great leftovers. The lentils make this salad hearty enough for dinner and the flavors make it special enough for upcoming holidays.
Yield: 4 large salad servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup uncooked green or brown lentils
2 and ½ tsp salt, divided
1 and ½ tsp pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 cup red onion, peeled and sliced thin
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 Tbsp safflower oil or other neutral tasting high heat oil
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, cut in half
3 cups packed kale, washed and cut into 1 inch pieces
½ cup pecans
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup aged balsamic vinegar
1 tsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup apple, cored and diced
½ cup golden raisins (optional)
Directions
Heat your oven to 425º. Prepare the lentils per the package instructions. Add 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper to the cooking lentils. It’s best to do this once they are simmering. Once they are cooked, they can be set aside to cool. While the lentils cook, roast the vegetables.
Place sweet potatoes, red onion and garlic cloves on a baking sheet lined in parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, spacing the vegetables out as much as possible on the baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp of oil and add 1 tsp salt and chili powder evenly over the vegetables. Once your oven is heated, roast the vegetables for 20 minutes, turning once halfway through.
Meanwhile, heat a sauté pan over medium heat and add the remaining oil to the pan once heated. Once the oil is hot, add the mushrooms to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and transfer to a separate dish. Return the pan to the hot burner and add the pecans to the pan. Toast the pecans in the heated pan for 3-4 minutes.
Prepare your dressing in a large salad bowl (this will be the bowl you’ll assemble the salad in). Add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, cinnamon, ½ tsp pepper and ½ tsp salt to the salad bowl and stir to combine.
Once the roasted vegetables are complete, remove from the oven and place the roasted garlic cloves in the salad bowl with your dressing. The garlic should take less time than the other vegetables, so you can keep roasting those if they need more time. Using a fork, mash the roasted garlic into the dressing until the consistency is fairly smooth.
Add the kale to the salad bowl and massage with the dressing for 2-3 minutes. This will improve the texture of the kale. Assemble the remainder of the salad by adding the lentils, roasted vegetables, sautéed mushrooms, toasted pecans, diced apple and golden raisins (if using) on top of the kale. Toss to combine everything and enjoy!
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