Roasted Parsnip & Carrot Lentil Salad with Creamy Cilantro-Lime Dressing
It’s hard to imagine that we still have local produce available in late Spring, but the Moscow Food Co-Op has some delicious root vegetables that are begging to be roasted and thrown in a salad.
The addition of some lentils from the PNW Farmers Cooperative makes this a hearty salad that will fill you up without weighing you down.
This salad will brighten your day.
This simple recipe takes 1 hour to make and feeds 4. The roasted vegetables and the lentils can be made up to three days in advance and then tossed with the rest of the salad ingredients.
Ingredients For the salad: 1 pound of carrots from Ronnigers Organics Farm, scrubbed clean and sliced into ½ inch rounds 1 large local parsnip, peeled and sliced into ½ inch rounds 2 tbsp vegetable oil ½ tsp ground coriander 1 tsp ground cumin ⅛ tsp ground smoked Habanero from Tonnnemaker Hill Farm (or cayenne pepper or ground chili powder) 3 green onions, thinly sliced 2 cups of your favorite greens (I used a combination of baby spinach and arugula) 1 cup of yellow PNW Farmers Cooperative lentils, picked clean 1 bay leaf 1 garlic clove 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil Kosher salt Freshly ground pepper For the dressing: ½ cup cilantro, finely chopped ½ cup sour cream ¼ cup mayonnaise Zest from half a lime Juice from half a lime Kosher salt Freshly ground pepper
Local roots, lentils and garlic are available year-round on the Palouse.
Directions
Make the dressing. Put all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl and whisk until well combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 400℉. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the carrots and parsnip in a large bowl and add the vegetable oil. Sprinkle with coriander, cumin, smoked Habanero (or cayenne or chili powder). Add a generous pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Mix until well combined.
Transfer the vegetables to the prepared baking sheet and spread them out into a single layer.
Roast for 40-50 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and starting to brown. Transfer them to a large bowl. Set aside.
While you are roasting the vegetables, cook the lentils. Place the lentils into a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed pot and cover with 2-3 inches of water. Add the bay leaf and garlic clove and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium high heat.
As soon as the water reaches a simmer, turn down the heat to low and cook the lentils for 15-20 min or until soft. It’s important to cook the lentils low and slow to avoid having them turn to mush.
Drain the lentils and transfer them to the bowl with the roasted vegetables. Let them cool for 10 minutes.
Add the green onion and greens to the bowl Add the two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well to combine.
Transfer the salad to a plate and drizzle with some of the cilantro-lime dressing. Serve immediately. This salad can be served at room temperature or cold, but make sure to wait until the last minute to dress it.
Cilantro-Lime dressing is the perfect compliment to roasted roots.
PCFC Guest Blogger, Daniela Miranda, is the food photographer and recipe developer behind The Boozy Oyster blog, a food and cocktails blog that aims to inspire home cooks to try out new recipes. When she’s not cooking, she and her husband like to foster dogs and go hiking on Kamiak Butte.