A sweet & spicy dressing complements this giant lentil salad full of late summer veggies
September always starts out a little hectic but it's one of the best months.
Football season starts, it begins to not feel like it's 107°F outside, and the fresh produce is so good.
I feel like I need to stock up on all the produce that I know won't be around too much longer. I'm looking at you watermelon.
Tomatoes are also really tasty this time of year -- right before they get really untasty (I'm making that a word, k?) And everything is on sale because in season veggies are best with they're on sale, right?! YES! Let's eat all the veggies!
Since September is always incredibly busy, I try to make my life easier by keeping already prepared food in the fridge and freezer.
I usually make something like chicken salad or quinoa salad or pimento cheese. It's an easy way to make sure I'll have some protein and won't have to do much work when I feel overwhelmed by a full schedule.
Since I try to make new things every so often to have something to write about on this here blog, I decided to use some of my chard (I sorta kinda bought a lot of chard because it was on sale and it was so pretty) and leftover feta cheese from the easiest casserole ever I posted yesterday.
[clickToTweet tweet="Chard Feta Lentil Salad: a giant #lentil salad with late summer/early fall veggies" quote="Chard Feta Lentil Salad: a giant #lentil salad with late summer/early fall veggies"]
For this lentil salad, I sautéed some onions and a bunch (well, two bunches) of chard.
Boil the lentils -- personally I like to add a little broth to the water for extra flavor but that's up to you and I really only do it when I have it in my fridge. Slice some tomatoes and crumble the feta. Whisk together a quick dressing, too. And then stir it all together.
Done.
This salad is tasty served warm or cold, as a side dish or a main dish. You don't have to add the feta but I love how it adds another dimension of flavors.
You have the slightly bitter greens, the sweet & spicy dressing, and the tangy-saltiness from the feta and yum!
This makes a big ole batch (a little more than 8 cups) for you to eat all week and then some. [Note: as this sits, the chard starts to get a little more bitter but it's still really tasty in my opinion]
Chard and Feta Lentil Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 2 cups green lentils rinsed & sorted
- 7 tsp olive oil divided
- 1 large onion about 2 cups, chopped
- 2 bunches chard about 16 cups, chopped
- 1 clove garlic about 1 tsp, minced
- 4 tsp honey
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
- 4 ounces feta cheese crumbled
Instructions
- Put the water and lentils in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30-35 minutes until tender. Drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a skillet or dutch oven. Add onion and sauté for 10 minutes. Add chard and sauté for about 5 minutes, until chard has wilted.
- Whisk together honey, red wine vinegar, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and remaining 4 teaspoons olive oil. Stir into lentils. Add in onion-chard mixture and stir well. Fold in sliced tomatoes and feta, if using.
Meme
Want more lentils? Here are some of my favorites:
Roasted Vegetable Lentil Salad
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Samantha @ThePlantedVegan says
I never know how to use lentils, but this is definitely a good way to use them! Thanks for the recipe!
Meme says
Thanks Samantha! Lentils are so underrated in my opinion -- it's time we change that ๐
Min says
We must seriously be on the same wavelength bc I just made some lentil and chard frittata before I left for FNCE as well! Love those two ingredients together!! Miss ya...
Meme says
Haha! Yes! I miss youuuu