Warm Lentil Salad with Roasted Red Peppers and Spinach
 
Hands-on time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Yields: 3
Ingredients
For the salad:
  • 3 red bell peppers, quartered (or jarred roasted red peppers)
  • 1 cup dried red lentils
  • 3 cups loosely packed spinach
  • 3 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
For the dressing:
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp prepared mustard
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 2 small cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. First, roast the peppers. (If you are using jarred roasted red peppers, skip to the next step!) Preheat your broiler. Lay quartered peppers, skin up, on a baking sheet. (I like to cover my baking sheet with foil for easier clean-up.) Broil until skin of peppers is completely charred, which will depend on your broiler, probably about 6-8 minutes. You want the skins to be totally black! Remove from oven and immediately place peppers in a large ziploc bag and seal. Set aside for 10 minutes to steam. (This can also be done ahead of time.)
  2. Add lentils and 1 1/2 cups water to a small pot. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender but not mushy, 15-20 minutes. [Edit: Some readers have said the lentils were fully cooked by 10 minutes. Check them at 10 minutes!] Remove from heat, drain any excess water, and stir in spinach. Cover and set aside.
  3. Meanwhile, prepare the dressing by blending all ingredients together.
  4. After peppers have steamed for 10 minutes, remove from bag. Peel the charred skins off and discard. It's OK if some charred bits remain - we're not going for perfection! Chop into bite-sized pieces and stir into the spinach and lentils.
  5. To serve, top spinach/lentil/pepper mixture with goat cheese and dressing. Enjoy hot! This also makes awesome cold leftovers.
Notes
For a heartier option, serve over short pasta such as fusilli. Adapted from Grab A Plate.
Recipe by Coffee & Quinoa at https://www.coffeeandquinoa.com/2013/05/warm-lentil-salad-with-roasted-red-peppers-and-spinach/