warm squash and lentil salad
This might not be a salad in the traditional sense since it’s warm – but as the months turn cooler, adding warm elements to your salad makes sense. This is how I prefer to eat my salads in the autumn and winter. Sometimes I add just one warm element – or in the instance of this salad I have added a couple – including a spicy kick that’s guaranteed to warm you through. If you want to speed up the making of this salad you can buy ready cooked puy lentils. We like the ones that come in a pouch from Merchant Gourmet.
ingredients
serves 3
1 butternut squash
100g puy lentils
130g kale
1 tablespoon rose harissa paste. We use Belazu.
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 handful of walnuts or hazelnuts
method
prep time: 30 mins
Preheat oven at 180°C.
Peel the butternut squash with a julienne peeler and cut into chunks.
Place in an overproof dish and cover in the harissa paste.
Place in a hot oven for 25-35 minutes until cooked.
Rinse the puy lentils and place in a saucepan. Cover with cold water, bring to the boil and gently simmer for 15-20 minutes, until cooked with a little bite.
While the lentils and butternut squash are cooking massage your kale.
To do this strip the kale from the stalks, wash carefully and place in a bowl.
Add the extra virgin olive oil and salt and massage with you hands for a few minutes and then leave to stand. This helps to break down the fibres and makes the kale softer in texture.
When the butternut squash and lentils are cooked add them to the kale.
Crush the nuts and add these to the salad.
the health boost tip
A bright colourful salad that contains a ‘rainbow’ of different colour vegetables. We like to pack our salads with vegetables in a range of colour - not only do you get a wide range of vitamins and minerals, but also phytonutrients.
This is delicious on its own – but also yummy with a sprinkling of feta cheese if you can tolerate.
