Description
This vegan salad is packed with protein from the lentils and creamy dill-tahini dressing. The sweet potatoes add the perfect amount of sweetness. The salad will keep you satisfied for hours.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- FOR THE SALAD:
- 1 cup uncooked green or brown lentils that have been soaked for at least 1 to 8 hours* (see notes)
- 2 cups filtered water
- 1 large sweet potato (preferably organic), washed
- 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
- Sea salt and pepper
- 1 bunch kale, stemmed and chopped (could also use spinach)
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Sea salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup roasted, salted pistachios, shelled
- FOR THE DRESSING:
- 1/2 cup tahini paste (sesame butter)
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 3 to 4 sprigs fresh dill fronds (or 2 teaspoons dried dill)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup filtered water (or more to thin)
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- FOR THE SALAD:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Drain and rinse the lentils that have been soaking. Place them into a medium-sized stew pot along with the 2 cups filtered water. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the lentils are tender but not mushy.
- If you didn’t soak your lentils very long, or if they are older, they may take longer to cook, around 20 to 30 minutes. If the lentils begin to dry out as they cook then add more water a little at a time until the lentils are cooked. Usually they soak up all of the water, but when I pre-soaked them they did not soak up much of the cooking water at all. If a lot of the cooking liquid is left then simply drain the lentils. Place them back into the pot, remove from the heat and place the lid on the lentils to help keep them warm if there is some waiting time before the salad is ready to assemble.
- While the lentils are cooking prepare your sweet potato. If your sweet potato is not organic then peel the skin. If it’s organic then skip the peeling step and simply cube the sweet potato into 1 inch pieces. Place the cubed sweet potato onto a large rimmed baking sheet along with the grapeseed oil and salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Roast the sweet potatoes for 20 minutes, flipping them halfway through. They should be fork-tender.
- While the sweet potato is cooking prepare your kale. Place the stemmed and chopped kale in a mixing bowl. Add juice of ½ lemon, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Use your hands to message the kale a few times. Set aside. This process helps tenderize raw kale. (SKIP THE LEMON AND OLIVE OIL MASSAGING STEP IF USING SPINACH).
- FOR THE DRESSING:
- In the bowl of a food processor add the tahini paste, minced garlic, lemon juice, dill, olive oil, and ¼ cup filtered water. Process until well combined, scrape down sides and process again.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and process until well combined. Add more water a tablespoon at a time, just until the dressing is pourable. It should be thick; this dressing will cling to your kale, yet it should be able to run off your spoon.
- In a large salad bowl combine the kale, warm lentils and warm sweet potatoes. Drizzle with dressing as desired and sprinkle with the pistachios.
- Due to the heartiness of this salad leftovers will hold up fairly well with the dressing, but the ingredients are best stored separately and combined and dressed just before eating. If using spinach, however, the leftovers will not hold up at all after the spinach has been dressed.
- This salad is equally delicious with the lentils and sweet potatoes served cold.
Notes
*I recently learned that it is important to soak lentils before we cook them. There is an enzyme in the lentil that makes it difficult for our bodies to digest. Soaking them in cold water for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours (overnight) helps to break down that enzyme. A bonus is that soaking the lentils considerably reduces their cooking time from 30-45 minutes to 10-15 minutes! Of course, the time may vary depending on how long you soak your lentils and how old they are. Read more about why we should soak our lentils here.
