Lentil salad

Inspired by a recipe I found over at Eat Air, I made lentil salad for dinner last night. Andy and I both really enjoyed it, but Jaxom gave it a hearty "Ewwww." Oh well. With a 20-month old, you just can't win them all.

In addition to yummy, this dish was pretty, too. I am kicking myself for not taking pictures. I didn't think about it until it was too late. Bummer.

My version went thusly:

While the lentils were cooking, I mixed up the dressing in a big bowl.

1/2 C each olive oil and balsamic vinegar
pinch of parsley
~1/2 tsp ground thyme
generous pinch dried tarragon
salt and pepper.

Then I cut up my veggies and threw them in with the dressing. Pretty much anything would work here, but I used:

1 carrot, grated
1 avocado, cut into chunks
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
generous handful broccoli florets, minced fine so Jax would eat them
1 rib celery, sliced thin
a handful of kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
a handful of sliced black olives. We love olives in this house, oh yes we do.

By this time I was out of room in the bowl I'd chosen, so I fudged a little and served the lentils separately, along with a big shaker of nutritional yeast to sprinkle on top.

The avocado was the dark horse of this dish. I was pleased with the creamy, smoky note it added. I also liked the contrast between smooth and crunchy, tangy and mellow. My only regret? I should have made more. Andy finished it off when I got up to take Jax to the bathroom.