For all my lunch salad lovers! ๐ If you're anything like me, you appreciate an easy lentil and pea salad. This tasty and nourishing salad is great on its own, as a side dish, or as a base for your meal. You will love this easy, slightly spicey, healthy lentil salad recipe with simple sauteed vegetables and fresh herbs.
Let's be realโno one has time for complicated recipes, not when you need to get some good food in your belly quickly.
That's where this easy-peasy lentil and pea salad comes in. It's the kind of dish you can throw together on a whim, using veggies you probably have already on hand - we are talking basics here -- and end up with a satisfying and nutritious meal. This recipe is perfect for meal prep, and makes an excellent packed lunch or dinner. Feel free to top with some pre-cooked chicken, tofu or chilled shrimp for a little extra protein.
The texture is the key to making this salad amazing. Lentils and peas can be a bit soft, for some, the texture can be weird. So it's important to add crisp and crunchy things too.
I use canned brown lentils for this recipe - to make the prep quick and easy, no planning ahead. Frozen peas - just thawed, not cooked. Still crunchy, slightly sauteed carrots. Raw peppers fresh onions, and crunchy pumpkin seeds! So good, it is addictive.
TLDR: Keep things crunchy.
Don't overcook the vegetables. Lightly saute, but keep them crisp!
Use frozen peas, but just thaw them, don't cook them!
I love the contrast the crunchy pumpkin seeds add to this salad. Slivered almonds or sunflower seeds would also be nice. I sometimes double the amount of crunchy things.
- So don't overcook the veggies. Keep them crisp.
- Keep some of the veggies fresh - red or white sweet onion, bell pepper
- Add crunch with toasted pumpkin seeds or other nuts.
How to make this healthy lentil salad recipe
Dressing. The dressing is a simple blend of lemon, olive oil, and vinegar spiced with cumin and cayenne pepper. You can omit or reduce the cayenne pepper if you don't like spicy flavours, but just a touch adds a little zip to the salad.
Carrots. A few carrots peeled and chopped. Sauting the carrots slightly makes them a little sweeter, but don't overcook them. Just a very quick saute, you want them to stay crispy. So don't overcook. Just a few minutes. Add the garlic just at the end of the carrot's cooking time to take the edge off.
Frozen peas. Yep. Frozen peas. Take them out and run them under lukewarm water to help them thaw while you make the dressing and prep the other ingredients. Once thawed, just throw them into the salad.
Fresh sweet onion, sweet bell pepper and a jalapeno. Leave these fresh and toss them with the sauteed vegetables and lentils. Don't cook these for maximum flavour and crunch. I always have fresh jalapenos in my grocery cart but you can use pickled jalapenos in the place of fresh or skip completely if you prefer.
Fresh herbs. Fresh herbs add freshness and brightness to the salad. I usually use parsley, but fresh mint would work nicely too and works well with the cumin.
Crunchy. I like to add something crunchy to the salad. Toasted pumpkin seeds are one of my favourites. I buy these and add them to everything from salads to avocado toast. Toasted, chopped or silvered almonds or sunflower seeds are also good.
Lentils. You can cook your own lentils from dried if you would like. Use this method. For this salad, I always reach for a can. The only downside to using canned lentils is you are usually limited to brown or green. I find canned lentils are predictable in texture so work every time in a salad like this.
How to serve
Side dish
This lentil salad is perfect for an easy BBQ side dish with burgers or grilled sweet corn. Or anything else you have on the grill. Great with roasted veggies.
On top of a green salad
For dinner, I will make a big green salad of spinach or romaine lettuce, tossed with a little oil and vinegar and top it with a serving of this lentil salad. Reminds me of those salad bar salads I used to get from the food court.
Meal Prep
A lentil salad is perfect for meal prep and will keep refrigerated for 3-4 days. I like to portion out into individual containers (for lunch I will usually eat 1-ยฝ to 2 servings - 2 servings have 14 grams of protein!) and top with a little feta, diced cooked chicken breast or even this baked tofu for added protein.
serve with
More great make-ahead salad recipes
- Make-ahead Kale Salad
- High-protein Pasta and Carrot Salad
- Lemon and Herb Bean Salad
- Broccoli Salad with Feta and Cherry Tomatoes
๐ Recipe
Easy Lentil and Pea Salad
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon olive oil divided
- 2 teaspoon cumin
- ยฝ teaspoon salt
- ยผ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vineager
- 1 cup carrots peeled and chopped
- ยฝ red onion diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper canned will work as well
- 1 sweet pepper, red, orange or yellow seeded and diced
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 cup peas fresh or frozen
- 2 cups cooked lentils one 540 ml or 19 oz canned lentils, rinsed and drained
- ยฝ cup fresh parsley or mint
- ยฝ cup toasted pumpkin seeds or silvered almonds, sunflower seeds
Instructions
- In a large salad bowl whisk together, lemon juice, cumin, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt, cayenne and vinagar. Add the rinsed and drained lentils to the bowl and toss to combine. Add the thawed sweet peas, sweet pepper, red onion and jalepeno if you are using.2 tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoon olive oil, 2 teaspoon cumin, ยฝ teaspoon salt, ยผ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 2 tablespoons apple cider vineager, ยฝ red onion, 1 jalapeno pepper, 2 cups cooked lentils, 1 sweet pepper, red, orange or yellow
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add diced carrot and saute until carrots just start to soften, 2-3 minutes. Add garlic. Saute for another minute or two. Transfer to the bowl with the lentils. Toss well to combine. To finish the salad, toss in fresh herbs and pumpkin seeds. Serve.1 cup carrots, 3 garlic cloves, 1 cup peas, ยฝ cup fresh parsley or mint, ยฝ cup toasted pumpkin seeds
- This healthy salad will keep for several days, perfect for meal prep. For meal prep divide into single serve containers - 1 cup jam jars work well.
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