Quinoa and Black Lentils Over Mixed Green Salad
Today, I’m sharing a recipe for Quinoa and Black Lentil Salad over Mixed Greens for this week’s Food Network Fall Fest event where Mixed Lettuce is being featured. Each week through the fall season, a group of talented bloggers will be featuring a recipe using fresh fall produce that’s in season.
Recently, a dear friend of mine treated me to a birthday lunch at one of my favorite restaurants – The Farmer’s Table. I love how fresh everything is – Chef Ubaldo has his own farm and sources most of his ingredients locally. The menu changes weekly depending on what’s in season and often features produce from his own farm.
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That particular day, we tried the quinoa and lentil salad which was served on top of a bed of mixed salad greens with fresh tomatoes and avocados surrounding the plate. What a simple presentation, yet so incredibly good. Before I left the restaurant, I bought some of Chef Ubaldo’s farm fresh tomatoes and salad greens so I could recreate this salad for a group of ladies the next day. Since I was making it in a large batch, I tossed the tomatoes and avocados in with the quinoa and black lentils.
This is a terrific one-dish salad packed with protein. If you want to plate it as they did at The Farmer’s Table, instead of tossing the tomatoes and avocados in with the quinoa salad, slice the tomatoes and avocados and line a plate with them. Then place a handful of tossed greens in the center of the plate and scoop some quinoa and lentil salad on top. Enjoy!
Be sure to check out the following recipes from all my friends participating in this week’s Fall Fest!
Jeanette’s Healthy Living: Quinoa and Black Lentil Salad With Mixed Salad Greens
Cooking With Books: “Chopped” Salads
Haute Apple Pie: Roasted Butternut Squash Salad With Warm Bacon Dressing
Dishin & Dishes: Beet Salad With Garlic Vinaigrette
Thursday Night Dinner: Mixed Lettuce, Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pita Pizza
And Love It Too: Rainbow Salad
Made By Michelle: Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwiches
Feed Me Phoebe: Hearts of Romaine With Beets, Pistachios and Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette
HGTV Gardens: Garden-to-Table: Mixed Lettuce
Virtually Homemade: Mixed Fall Greens With Dijon Chive Vinaigrette
Devour: Lettuce (Hold the Salad)
Daily*Dishin: Almond Chutney Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Delicious Lean: Chiffonade of Mixed Greens
FN Dish: Top 12 Lettuce Wraps
Quinoa and Black Lentils with Mixed Greens
Ingredients
- 1 cup quinoa rinsed well
- 1 3/4 cup water
- 1 cup black lentils rinsed
- 4 cup water
- 2 to matoes chopped
- 2 avocados chopped
- 8 large handfuls mixed lettuce greens
Balsamic Honey Vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- fresh thyme sprig optional
- salt and ground pepper to taste
Instructions
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To cook quinoa, rinse well to remove saporin coating. Place in a rice cooker with 1 3/4 cup water. Cook on white rice setting. Alternatively, cook quinoa on stovetop.
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To cook black lentils, place rinsed lentils in a saucepan with 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until lentils are just tender, about 20-22 minutes. Drain.
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To make Balsamic Honey Vinaigrette, whisk together Vinaigrette ingredients in a bowl or place all ingredients in a jar and shake well.
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Toss cooked quinoa and lentils together in a bowl and drizzle on some Balsamic Honey Vinaigrette to taste. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool completely.
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When ready to serve, add chopped tomatoes and avocado to quinoa and lentils, and toss with mixed salad greens. Serve with additional Vinaigrette on the side.
This post has been linked up to Diet, Desserts & Dogs Wellness Weekend and Beyond the Peel’s Keep It Real Thursdays.
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Oh I love the sound of this. I want some black lentils.
This is absolutely beautiful, Jeanette. A couple weeks ago I had an amazing lentil salad for lunch out. Since then I’ve been dying to try to re-create it at home…the funny thing is, their salad had a balsamic dressing too! I think it’s fate…need to try this!
That is a beautiful salad – I would love that for lunch!
Simply amazing flavors in this salad, J! Love black lentils 🙂
So glad you shared this, as it reminds me of a quinoa and mixed greens salad I had this summer that I wanted to duplicate. This looks delicious & love the addition of the lentils too!
Another great quinoa recipe for the books—can’t wait to try this!
Beautiful, colorful salad. just the way I like it! and I absolutely love quinoa. .
This is my favorite kind of salad… full of lots of healthy, hearty ingredients.
looks great! I love black lentils. Beautiful combination Jeanette!
I’m glad you all like the combination of quinoa and black lentils too! I love the texture of black lentils – great in salads.
This salad is packed with so many wonderful ingredients!
Wow, too gorgeous. I just read a great review on The Farmer’s Table in one of my Canadian Magazines. It must be good 🙂
I love how this salad illustrates that it doesn’t have to be lettuce or quinoa or lentils in a salad… it can be a dynamic and delicious combination of all three!
Lentil salads are one of my favorite lunches. I’m going to try adding quinoa next time I make it!
This salad looks incredible! What a great recipe!