Yep, lots of salads in my house these days.  This was was particularly tasty– perfect for those of us watching our intake because it tastes good, but is pretty healthy.  This is based on a lentil salad recipe from Raising the Salad Bar. Since I didn’t have all of the ingredients to make that recipe, I made up my own.

Lentil Salad

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1 1/2 cups French green lentils

2 bay leaves

1 carrot, grated

1/2 medium red onion, diced (and soaked in several changes of water if the aftertaste of raw onion bothers you)

1 roasted red pepper, chopped

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup toasted pecans halves, crumbled lightly in your hand before adding to the salad

1/4 cup raisins

Dressing:

2 TB apple cider vinegar

1 TB white wine vinegar

1 TB fresh lemon juice

1 TB maple syrup

2 tsp flax oil

S&P to taste

Fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil.  Add the lentils and bay leaves, reduce to a simmer and cook until the lentils are tender (but not mushy), about 20 minutes.  When cooked, drain them and let them cool a bit.  Meanwhile, put the remaining salad ingredients into a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, prepare the dressing ingredients.  (NOTE:  The original recipe called for balasamic vinegar, but I was out, so I used the apple cider and white wine vinegars.)  When the lentils have cooled a bit, add them to the salad along with the dressing and toss everything together.

We had ours over some romaine and butter lettuce with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and drizzled with a little of the lentil salad dressing.  I thought the dressing was a little too delicate for the salad, so I will try it next time with the balsamic vinegar instead.  The delicateness could also be due to the fact that I used 2 tsp of flax oil instead of 1/4 cup of olive oil.  It was still good and I’ll be having the leftovers for lunch today, probably wrapped up in a cabbage leaf.  Yum!

The “chips” along the side of the bowl are garlic-herb lavash chips that I made so that we could have a “bread” with our salad.  These turned out great– even my Emma liked them!  All I did was cut a whole wheat lavash into triangles, either spray or brush lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle on some salt, granulated garlic and dried oregano.  Bake at 350 degrees until brown and crispy.  A very simple meal with very little cleanup too– can’t beat that!

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