Delicious eaten warm or chilled, this salad is protein and fibre rich and makes an excellent option if you have dinner guests since it can be prepped and cooked in advance.
It provides a lovely sweetness from the orange and roasted roots, and the earthy tones are balanced beautifully with the creamy, fragrant dill and yoghurt dressing. I find this salad aesthetically pleasing too – I love how the ruby beets bleed into the yoghurt to create a pop of magenta – food is beautiful, food is art!
Beluga lentils are a firm favourite of mine; they retain some bite once cooked and they’re a great source of anthocyanin – a potent antioxidant! Don’t worry if you don’t have beluga lentils on hand, you could easily substitute with the green or brown varieties.
prep time: 15 minutes cooking time: 45 minutes serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
- 250g beluga lentils (uncooked or precooked)
- 4 carrots, peeled and cut lengthways
- 2 beetroot, peeled and cut in to eights
- handful of rocket
- juice and zest of 1 orange
- olive oil
- salt
- black pepper
FOR THE DRESSING
- 125g unsweetened yoghurt
- juice of ½ lemon
- 25g dill, finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon maple syrup
METHOD
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / 400°F / gas 6
- Add the lentils to a pan of water over medium heat. Bring to a boil and let simmer until the lentils are tender. This will take around 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, drain and set aside.
Note: if you’re using precooked beluga lentils, you can skip the above step!
- Place the beetroot and carrots into an oven dish and toss with a little olive oil, the orange juice, orange zest and season with salt and pepper, cover with tin foil and roast for 25 minutes. Remove the tin foil and roast for a further 20 minutes.
- For the dressing, place all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk together.
- Transfer the lentils, beetroot and carrots to a serving platter and scatter some fresh rocket on top. Toss all together to combine and drizzle the dressing over the top. Finish with some cracked black pepper and fresh dill.
