This is a hearty lentil salad filled with refreshing cucumber, crunchy cabbage, celery, and pepitas. It cooks up in 30 minutes flat and is a great as a side, abed leafy greens, or used as a filling in corn tortillas!
I'm always trying to work more lentils into my diet. Short of smoothies and desserts, if I can remember, they go into everything! Kind of like turmeric in that regard. Spaghetti? Check. Soup? Check. Salad? Check. Tacos? Double check!
Speaking of food...the food monster...also known as Bailey (Bob), has been coming to work with me for the past couple of weeks. The naughty little fella decided it's the most brilliant thing he's ever discovered to open the oven and gobble up all the nut and seed muffins I thought I was "Bob-proofing" in there. A few days later, he opened the fridge while we were at work and ate half a tub of Earth Balance and an absurd amount of red miso paste. A balanced diet? Umm...not so much. Check out Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to keep up on all his shameful adventures.
Bob gets walked three times a day while I'm at work and I love to bask in the sun and smell the fresh air throughout the day. The leaves are almost out in full-force up here in Alaska and late-spring finally has that distinct fragrance of freshly blooming birch leaves. Bob enjoys it too. I think he is glad to feel included when he comes to work with me. In the morning he waits on the porch until I exit the house, so I don't forget to bring him.
It think it's helped him cut down on licking his foot a bit too; sometimes I still catch him when I go to walk him though. He has a lick granuloma on his back leg near his paw. Has your dog ever had one of these? He's had it for years. It comes and goes and I swear we've tried pretty much everything, and have been to several vets! Have you found anything that seemed to help?
Lentil Salad w/ Cucumber & Cabbage
This is a hearty lentil salad filled with refreshing cucumber, crunchy cabbage, celery, and pepitas. It cooks up in 30 minutes flat and is a great as a side, abed leafy greens, or used as a filling in corn tortillas!
Yield: 6-8 Servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown lentils, dry
- 2 cups water
- 1 medium cucumber, peeled and ribboned
- 2 medium celery stalks, chopped
- ½ small cabbage, shredded
- ¼ cup pepitas
- ¾ cup cilantro, chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp agave nectar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp ground paprika
- 3 large garlic cloves, minced
Cooking Directions
- In a medium saucepan, bring the lentils and water to a boil over high heat. Then reduce to low and cover. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Drain and set aside.
- While the lentils cook, add the cucumber, celery, and cabbage to a large serving bowl. Toss to combine then add the pepitas and the cilantro.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients and stir in the garlic.
- Add the cooked lentils to the veggies and pour the dressing over the mixture. Stir very well to combine.
- Serve warm or cold, using a slotted spoon. It’s great as a side, on top of leafy greens, or in corn tortillas!
Learn A New Word In Dutch
Exciting --> opwindend (op-vind-denz)
Expand Knowledge
This is a very interesting piece from NPR regarding what's next for animal welfare and how our opinion on how we treat animals is changing because of, well, science!
