This Lentil and Chickpea salad makes a nice hearty vegetarian salad, and the fresh mint adds a great touch too!
Pending on the season, though, you can chose to enjoy the legumes at room temperature or warmed. Either way, it’s yum yum yum!!
Nice Hack for Eating Salads in the Winter and Still Stay Warm
In the cooler months your body prefers warming foods to help preserve energy and keep you warm. Intuitively we tend to want more soups, stews along with other warming foods on a cold winter’s day. And for this same reason we also tend to eat less salads.
But here’s a nice hack so you can you still get some salads in the wintertime and keep your core warm; just bring your raw veggies to room temperature and warm the legumes before tossing everything together. The contrast is nice too!
Nutrition Scoop
Legumes, as a group they are perhaps, almost the perfect vegetarian food. The fats they have are good fats, cholesterol-free, high in protein and high in fibre. Particularly the type called soluble fibre which helps to lower blood cholesterol levels.
Legumes are also a complex carbohydrate which is broken down by the body over a longer period of time and this helps with sustaining energy levels longer too. And being remarkably high in fibre helps with slowing the absorption of sugar which improves blood sugar levels.
Also, most legumes contribute valuable iron and B vitamins which is good for those who don’t eat meat. Regular legume eaters will also get plenty of zinc and smaller amounts of other vitamins and minerals.
Black Lentils (aka Beluga Lentils)
The black lentils are very nutritious and so easy to cook. Lentils are the few legumes you don’t need to presoak and take only 20-25 mins to cook. Though, for those who have tummy issues (IBS/IBD, extreme bloating or other gut issues), presoaking them may help aid with their digestion and definitely will not hurt.
For 1/4 cup dry black lentils, which adds up to 1 cup cooked, there’s about 15 grams of fibre, and 13 grams of protein— not to mention potassium, iron, magnesium, folate and zinc. This makes them a gem to add quickly to salads, soups, stews, buddha bowls and combined with mushrooms they make an excellent meat alternative too.
However, if you don’t have black lentils on hand than you can easily swap them out for green or brown lentils for this recipe. Just not the red lentils since they do not keep their shape well. And you definitely want a lentil that doesn’t fall apart easily for this recipe!
Trick of the Trade
Lentils are one of those easy foods you can prep ahead and always have on hand. Which makes throwing this salad together easy to do in just minutes.
Make it a Meal
Just add an avocado.
Enjoy this simple Lentil and Chickpea Salad!
Lentil and Chickpea Salad
Equipment
- Medium Stainless Steel pot
- Measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- Chef knife
- cutting board
- Medium glass mixing bowl
- Large Salad Bowl
- Stainless Steel Mesh Strainer
Ingredients
For cooking Lentils
- 1 cup Black lentils picked through and rinsed
- 5 cups Water
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 Bay leaf
Main Salad
- 1/2 Red onion diced
- 1/2 English cucumber peeled, seeded and diced
- 2 cups Chickpeas, cooked or 15 oz canned, rinsed and drained
- 1 Jalapeño pepper optional, finely diced
- 1/2 cup Mint finely chopped (about 1 small bunch)
- 1/3 cup Fresh parsley flat leaf, finely chopped (about 1/3 bunch)
Bed of Greens
- Mesclun salad leaves for serving optional
Dressing
- 2 tbsp Olive oil extra virgin
- 1 1/2 Lemon Freshly juiced
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the lentils, water, salt and bay leaf in a pot and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until lentils are tender but not mushy, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Strain lentils and transfer to a bowl of ice-cold water to cool.
- Let cool completely, then drain and put in a large bowl.
- Add onion, cucumber, chickpeas and jalapeño to lentils.
- Gently stir to combine, taking care not to mash the lentils.
- Drizzle with oil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
- Mix well, taste and adjust seasoning.
- Serve over salad greens if desired.