Roasting cooked lentils in the oven, for just a few minutes, makes them crisp, crunchy, and so much more than your average legume. This salad is a textural wonder as any good salad should be.
Even in cold weather, a good winter salad is welcome, and this one makes good use of seasonal ingredients. Pomegranate is almost finished for the season – but not quite – and combined with orange, lamb’s lettuce (my winter darling of lettuce greens), and pickled red onion, you have a very bright salad in both flavour and appearance.
The lentils are cooked with a warming spice mix that plays off the ginger and orange vinaigrette. It all boils down to one thing: this isn’t a boring salad.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Greens: I use lamb’s lettuce (feldsalat/mâche) all winter as it grows well in cold weather. I recommend a type of salad green that’s a bit sturdier, like this one. Use something like baby spinach or rucola (rocket/arugula) instead if you can’t find it where you live.
- Lentils: black beluga, le puy green, or brown mountain lentils. Don’t use red lentils.
- Spices: either use a spice mix like ras el hanout, or mix some of your favourite spices to make your own. I like cumin, cinnamon, and cardamom, with cayenne pepper.
- Seeds: a mix that you like. Pictured are sunflower and sesame but pumpkin would be nice, and nuts can also be used.
- Orange: use lemon in place of orange for the vinaigrette if necessary. If you need an extra boost of acidity, add a splash of apple cider vinegar.
- Pickled onions: optional, but the acidity is very good here. You can use raw onion, very thinly sliced, instead.
Recipe Notes
The lentils can be roasted in advance, but will lose their crunch if mixed with the salad. If you plan to have leftovers, keep the lentils separate and mix immediately before serving. The rest of the salad will keep fairly well in the refrigerator for a day or two, though if you’re making it for lunches it’s best to keep the vinaigrette separate as well.
Newsletter
More Wintery Salads
Moroccan Roasted Vegetable Salad
Pumpkin Salad
Red Cabbage Orange Salad
Quinoa Carrot Salad
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Crispy Lentil, Orange, and Pomegranate Salad
Ingredients
Crispy Roasted Lentils with Ras el Hanout
- 150 grams cooked black lentils
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ras el hanout or another spice mix
Orange Ginger Vinaigrette
- 60 ml olive oil extra virgin
- 60 ml orange juice about 1 large orange
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, very finely grated
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt to taste
Salad Base
- 100 grams lamb's lettuce
- 50 grams pickled red onions
- 1 large orange peeled and sliced
- ¼ pomegranate, seeds only
- 50 grams mixed seeds pumpkin, sesame, sunflower
Instructions
Crispy Roasted Lentils
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
- Add the lentils, oil, pepper, salt, and ras el hanout to a large baking sheet. Mix until well combined, then roast for 15-18 minutes, or until crispy.150 grams cooked black lentils, 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon ras el hanout
- Set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the other elements.
Orange Ginger Vinaigrette
- Add the olive oil, orange juice, ginger, pepper, and salt to a jar or bowl. Shake or whisk until very well combined.60 ml olive oil, 60 ml orange juice, 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, very finely grated, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Salad Base
- Add the lettuce, pickled onion, orange slices, pomegranate, and seeds into a large bowl. Top with the crispy lentils and orange ginger vinaigrette and toss. Serve immediately.100 grams lamb's lettuce, 50 grams pickled red onions, 1 large orange, 1/4 pomegranate, seeds only, 50 grams mixed seeds
Notes
* For American cup measurements, please click the pink link text above the ingredient list that says ‘American’.
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
This post was originally published in January 2018. It has been updated with some slight improvements to the recipe as of February 2022.
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Vio says
Hi,
This sounds delicious, I’ll have to try this asap. I’ve never seen a recipe with roasted lentil before, love that idea! I’m not quite sure about the preparation of the lentils though. Do you just soak them and then roast them? Or do you soak, then cook/ boil in water and then roast in the oven?
Thank you!
Vio
Alexandra Daum says
Hi Vio, I see why the wording is confusing! The lentils are cooked in water (and drained) before roasting. I hope you like it!
Elizabeth says
This salad came out great! Really inventive, original recipe. Appreciate using that Syrian spice mix. Thank you!