Lentils are such a great source of gluten free/vegan protein and have a mild flavor that goes well with so many other ingredients. This salad has extra protein from chickpeas, healthy fats from the avocado, and the baby kale provides fiber and vitamins A, C, & K.

A macrobiotic lentil salad recipe is extremely difficult to come by. Most are tabbouleh recipes with tomatoes and feta. For work, I actually only have 3 lentil salads on a rotation. I’m constantly on the look out for new recipes with new flavors, but it has definitely been more difficult than I thought. I hope lentils become more widely used, like quinoa, so more recipes start floating around.

Shallots have such a nice flavor and are a great alternative to regular onion. But raw shallots can still sometimes be harsh in a dressing or salad. I like to let them soak in the vinegar of the dressing for a while to mellow them out. You are still left with the great crunch they provide, but not such a sharp, overwhelming bite.

As someone who doesn’t have a lot of kitchen space and who hates washing dishes, I try to keep my kitchen tools to a minimum. This avocado tool (pictured below) was the best $10 I have ever spent! It has a “knife” at one end, that cuts through the avocado skin nicely but won’t cut your skin, making the task so much easier.

In the middle, there are three little metal pieces in a circle. You use this part to take out the pit – you smack this area of the tool against the pit and twist the pit right out! Then you can easily push the pit off the tool through the little hole on the other side. The other end has a scooping/slicing tool, which makes it extremely easy to remove the avocado from its skin in perfect slices.

I would highly recommend purchasing this tool if you eat/use a lot of avocados. It has really saved me a lot of time and probably a few finger tips.

Lentil and Chickpea Salad

Makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

Salad:

2 cups french lentils
1/2 bag baby kale
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
1  15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 large/2 small avocados, diced and tossed in lemon juice
1 lemon, juiced

Dressing:

6 tablespoons shallot, finely diced
6 tablespoons olive oil
4 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

How to:

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Cook lentils for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside.

2. Prep shallots, olives, chickpeas, and avocados.

3. In a small container with a lid, add shallots and white wine vinegar and let sit for 10 minutes. Then add the rest of the dressing ingredients and shake together.

4. In a large bowl, mix together lentils, baby kale, olives, chickpeas, and avocado.

5. Dress salad and serve.

6. Enjoy!

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If you have any questions, comments, or recipe requests, please feel free to leave a comment or contact me. Also, if you make this recipe, please let me know what you think!