Salads aren’t your enemy

I’m that friend who can be counted on to order the salad option on the menu pretty much every time I go out to a restaurant. Not necessarily because I’m trying to lose weight or because it is usually the healthier option, which for me are just added bonuses. But rather because I genuinely LOVE salads.

I think that a lot of people are stuck in the mindset where they see salads as the boring bland option. That is about to change. There are so many different kinds of salads that saying ‘you don’t like salad’ is like saying that you don’t like vegetables. That simply can’t be true if you are doing it right.

For the next while we are going to be posting a salad recipe a week to help inspire all the salad-haters to love salads almost as much as we do!

To kick off this next salad is simply lip licking good and just as satisfying as your average comfort food meal.

 

 

Caramelized baby onion and lentil salad

Serves 4

 

8 baby onions or shallots, trimmed, peeled and quartered lengthways

1 Tbsp of olive oil

¼ tsp of salt

1 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar

1 tsp of sugar

1 cup of lentils, cooked until tender but not soft

1 tsp of lemon zest

2 Tbsp of lemon juice

2 Tbsp of chopped fresh herbs (thyme, oreganum, parsley, basil)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp of sugar

¼ tsp of salt (or to taste)

125g of baby rosa tomatoes, halved (keep some for garnish)

2 handfuls of baby spinach, well washed

1 cup of crumbled feta

Reserve tomatoes and herbs for garnish

 

Toss the onions with the seasoning and grill on a lined baking sheet in the oven turning from time to time until caramelized and blackening a little in places. Allow them to cool and refrigerate until ready for use.

While roasting the onions, combine all the lentil ingredients and refrigerate until ready for use.

When ready to serve, arrange the spinach on a platter, scatter with the lentil mixture, then the onions, then the baby tomatoes and feta. Garnish with the herbs and sliced baby tomatoes.

 

Written by Gabi