It’s the first day of July and I just can’t believe it! I’m so excited for the holiday weekend – I’ve got a whole menu planned out (that includes this lentil salad) and I can’t wait to entertain and bring friends and family together through food.
But let’s not get too excited yet, we’ve got a few days until the fireworks start booming and the grills are fired up. Let’s discuss this lentil salad recipe that I made last week and can easily be whipped up for your 4th of July festivities. About a month ago, I vowed to start cooking more lentils and I think, so far, I’ve been doing pretty good.
Cooking lentils is no new thing. For this dish, I simply cooked dry lentils and tossed them together with a few of my favorite veggies. Swiss chard, Vidalia onions and carrots to name a few but you can easily use spinach or kale if you can’t find Swiss chard in your food store or farmer’s market. The veggies I used are really more suggestions than anything else because you can mix n’ match what you want to add in. I have a deep love for Swiss chard and I think it makes any dish better. I also tossed in a bit of fresh orange juice n’ zest and almonds for a bit of flavor.
I think I’d wear fresh orange zest as a fragrance if they sold it. Do they? I need to find it, if so!
This gluten and dairy free dish is such a flavorful summer meal, if I do say so myself. O boy, is it ever amazing! You’ll love it. A whole lot.
Have a safe and relaxing July 4th holiday! What’s everyone cooking?
And check out my gluten-free recipe for Glamour Magazine: Homemade Golden Muesli: An Unboring Healthy Breakfast Cereal to Eat All Week
Ingredients
- 1 quart purified water
- 1/2 cup lentils
- 1 cup carrot chips
- 1 Vidalia onion finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 bunch Swiss Chard finely chopped
- 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 2 Tbsp. dried cranberries
- 1/4 tsp. fresh lemon zest
- 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
- 2 cups arugula
Instructions
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In a large saucepan, combine the water, lentils, carrot, Vidalia onion, garlic, sea salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the lentils are soft, approximately 20 minutes. Drain and discard bay leaf.
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In the same saucepan, add olive oil over medium heat. Add cooked lentil mixture and Swiss Chard. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Remove from heat; transfer to a serving bowl. Toss with lemon juice, almonds, cranberries and lemon zest.
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Serve at room temperature with arugula.
The RawFoodz dressings look fantastic. Thank you for the giveaway!
Did anyone win your Facebook giveaway?? 🙂
Looks really good…think this one will be on my list of recipes to try. I’m also thinking that some of those salad dressings in the giveaway might be good on this salad. Thanks.
Love the colors all together 🙂
would love to win!
I’m always looking for new and different ways to use lentils, and this sounds so yummy! Thanks for sharing!
I’m always looking for new ways to use swiss chard and I love lentils, now I have a recipe which will incorporate both!
I’m making this today! I don’t have Almonds left, so I am using Walnuts..
I can’t wait to try it!
That sounds yummy and I will have to try this for something different for a side salad. As far as the orange zest, there are some lovely orange essential oils that you could whip up into a nice lotion or oil for your skin =)
This looks really yummy. So many wonderful healthy recipes to try.
This sounds good!!
This is one recipe I will definitely try!
This recipe is so simple to make and so rustic n healthy!
Yum, I have never tried lentils cooled! Great way to work them into a salad. Thanks for the opportunity to win Raw Foodz Condiments!
This sounds wonderful. I think beans, lentils, etc., are highly underrated, for both nutrition and yumminess! I love having lentils as a side dish, and I would love to try them in this salad!
This salad looks delicious, healthy and filling. Yum!
Got some chard and vidalia onions in my CSA box this week. Can’t wait to give this a try.
This looks absolutely delicious! Thank you for sharing. 😀
I love lentils! I just never know what to do with them – now, I do!!! Plus this presentation is amazing! A healthy gift ☺