While the world has slowed down and most of us are spending much of our time at home, I am spending more time cooking and acknowledging lunches than ever before. With a little bit of planning, it's easy to eat healthy and feel satisfied throughout the day.
As part of my Pantry Meal Series, today I am featuring lentils, part of the legume family. Lentils come both dried and canned, and are incredibly high in protein and fibre. They are also low in fat, making them the perfect focus for mid-day meals.
This Lentil Beet & Radicchio Salad recipe calls for dried lentils and canned beets. As substitutions are the name of the game these days, canned lentils will work just as well - make sure to rinse the lentils before eating - omit the lentil cooking recipe portion below. Canned beets are a first for me, usually my family pickles beets every summer and I use those in salad, however these were in the pantry and I opted to use them instead. I was quite impressed by both the quality and the freshness of the beets. Fresh beets could easily work in this recipe and are a great produce item to buy during these limited shopping #stayhome times, as they have lasting power in the refrigerator. If you use fresh beets, scrub them (no need to peel), quarter and roast with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper on a parchment lined sheet at 400 degrees F for about 4o minutes or until beets are fork tender. The cooking time will vary according to the size of the fresh beets.
I'd love to hear what you are making for work from home lunches. Let me know in the comments below or post on Instagram to #mykuratedlife.
Happy Lunching,
Krista
Lentil Beet and Radicchio Salad With Balsamic Vinaigrette (adapted from Modern Lunch)
makes 4 servings
Ingredients
For The Lentils
1/2 cup dried du puy lentils
1 1/2 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons Vegetable flavoured Better Than Bouillon paste
For The Salad
1 small head of radicchio, leaves torn into bite-size pieces
6-8 small beets quartered, I used drained canned beets
1/4 cup walnuts, roasted and chopped
radish shoots, or any type of green - pea shoots, chopped parsley, etc.
goat cheese crumbles, optional* (not shown in the pictures but added on leftover salad the next day)
For The Balsamic Vinaigrette
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon honey
salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
Method
Pre-heat oven (I used my toaster oven) to 400 degrees F. Place walnuts onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Toast for 5-7 minutes, shaking every few minutes. Watching closely, as soon as you smell nuts, they are done.
In a colander, rinse dried lentils and pick out any rocks. Add water, Vegetable flavoured Better Than Bouillon and rinsed lentils to a small sauce pan. Turn heat to medium and bring liquid to a boil. Once boiled, stir and reduce heat to rolling simmer. Cook lentils for 40-50 minutes or until lentils have softened, but are still firm to bite, or el dente like. Set aside to cool.
In a small bowl combine the dressing ingredients: balsamic vinegar, garlic, dijon and honey. Slowly drizzle olive oil over the top while whisking, until all ingredients have emulsified or combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
To assemble the salad, add torn radicchio to plates. Top with lentils and beets. Sprinkle with walnuts and radish shoots. Drizzle with Balsamic Vinaigrette.
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