Lentil salad with roasted beetroot
It’s salad season again (almost)! And with this delicious lentil salad with roasted beetroot and fresh herbs, you’re always in the right place. Depending on whether you use ready-made beets or roast them yourself, this salad is ready in no time or it takes a little longer if you roast the beetroot yourself.
Lentil salad with roasted beetroot and fresh herbs
I find legumes from a can really ideal for putting together a filling meal salad. This delicious lentil salad with roasted beetroot is a good example of that. Of course, it is very tasty to roast the beets yourself and if you have the time to do so, it is absolutely recommended. But if you want to make this nice and quick, just use pre-cooked beets.
What will you find in this post:
When the beets are roasted they do develop much more flavor, but convenience does serve man. And I often find the pre-cooked beets super convenient to use. That also reduces the preparation time from an hour to barely 10 minutes. So it just depends on what you prefer and how much time you have on your hands.
Roasting the beetroot
If you have time to roast the beetroot (great job for the weekend!), first clean the beets with a brush. Wrap them individually in aluminium foil. Place them – slightly apart – on a rack in the oven. Set the oven to 200˚C (400˚F). Roast the beets for 30 to 50 minutes. How long it takes in total depends of course on the size of your beets. If you can stick a fork in them and it goes in easily, the beets are done.
By the way, this is also great fun to do on the BBQ during the summer months. You then simply place the wrapped beetroot in the coals while you get on with the rest of your barbecue dishes.
Once cooked, you can usually rub off the skin very easily but of course peeling with a small knife is also fine.
Washing the lentils
For this recipe you use canned (or jarred) lentils and it is a good idea to rinse them well. You do not have to heat them or do anything with them, but sometimes salt is added to the can and the moisture in them is not necessarily very tasty. So a good rinse is useful. Let them drain well before adding them to the salad.
Fresh herbs
Depending on the season and what is available, you can dress the lentil salad with roasted beetroot with lots of fresh herbs and different types of lettuce. I used watercress, mixed lettuce, chicory, parsley and basil here.
But dill is also tasty or some fresh mint.
Salted nuts
Usually I use unsalted nuts on a salad but in this case it is very nice to sprinkle this salad with salted nuts. That gives it that extra nice touch. You don’t really need to add salt and pepper. The nuts give off enough salt. If you want to use unsalted nuts, that is totally fine too.
The dressing for the salad is simply a combination of olive oil, vinegar, mustard and some fresh dill. Here you can add some salt and pepper as desired.
How long can you store the lentil salad with roasted beetroot?
With this kind of salad, it is best to make it fresh. You can prepare the tougher ingredients ahead of time (lentils combined with the beet) but fresh lettuce and herbs do best when added fresh. If you want to take the salad to work, it is convenient to keep the various components separate and only add them together at the last minute.
Which lentils are best in a salad?
You can basically use any kind of lentils in this lentil salad. Here I used the standard lentils you can buy canned, but you can also use black lentils, beluga lentils or puy lentils just fine. You can also use dried lentils and then cook them first. Of course, that takes more time so keep that in mind with the total preparation time.
Lentil salad with roasted beetroot
Ingredients
- 500 grams beetroot raw
- 400 grams lentils cooked
- 100 grams mixed lettuce with arugula
- 25 grams watercress
- 1 head chicory 1 large or 2 small ones
- 75 grams mixed salted nuts coarsely chopped
- 0.5 bunch parsley
- 0,5 bunch basil
Dressing
- 0.25 bunch dill
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp mustard
- Heat the oven to 200°C (400˚F). Scrub the beetroot thoroughly and wrap each one in aluminum foil. Place on a rack in the oven and roast for 20 to 50 minutes, depending on size. When you easily prick through them, they are done.
- Let the beets cool slightly and peel off the skin. Cut into pieces.
- Pick all the herbs.
- Make a vinaigrette from the mustard, vinegar and oil.
- Rinse the lentils under the cold tap and drain.
- Scramble the lettuce, chicory, green herbs and watercress with the vinaigrette and mix in the lentils and beet.
- Place in a pretty bowl and sprinkle with the chopped nuts
Nutrition Information per portion
Disclaimer
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
2 comments on “Lentil salad with roasted beetroot”
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I’m so excited for salad season with all of the fresh veggies and herbs! This recipe sounds delicious, too. I keep saying I want to make more dishes with lentils…so here’s my chance! 🙂
Thanks so much David. Yes lentils are so versatile and work perfect in dishes like this!