This warm lentil salad is the perfect cozy meal. Tossed with spinach, quinoa, roasted fennel and pine nuts, it’s healthy, vegetarian and simply tasty.
I admit it. I’m in love with a salad.
A salad that is warm, soothing and nourishing.
This may simply be the salad of my dreams.
Really, scratch that. It is the salad of my dreams.
Because, you understand it’s fall and whatever, my love for green salads is practically gone. A warm lentil salad with wilty spinach, roasted fennel and quinoa? Now that’s more my speed.
Can we just talk about fennel for a 2nd?
Anise. Which tastes like licorice.
But me and fennel appear to have actually made our peace. As soon as I started including it to juices, I sort of begun delighting in the taste (although you still will not discover me anywhere near licorice).
And then I roasted it …
My oh my.
But the genuine magic takes place when you mix it with warm lentils.
This was the type of salad that I seriously could not stop eating.
Real life: generally when I make a huge batch of something for the blog, I end up tossing some of it away.
So undoubtedly some enters into the garbage.
However not this salad. I woke up every day thrilled to eat the salad for lunch. And spread it out throughout as many meals as possible. (case in point, my lunch from Thursday)
And it’s already on the menu once again for next week. It’s addicting how great this salad is.
However prior to I let you run off and make it, I just need to take one more second and inform you about the dressing.
It starts with maple.
It brings out the sweet taste in the fennel, includes that touch of acid that every salad needs, and is the ideal amount of salty that all the tastes come to life. Like I’m not joking when I tell you that I licked the bowl after I put it over the salad.
However hi, if it tastes good and it benefits you, it’s fine by me.
Okay … now it’s time to let you go. Ideally, so you can go race to the kitchen and make this salad pronto. And ensure to come back and tell me how it is!
xo Alyssa
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More of My Favorite Healthy Salad Recipes:
- Creamy Superfood Kale & Lentil Quinoa Salad
- Arugula Fig Salad with Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Easy Detox Quinoa Salad
- Wild Rice Quinoa Salad with Asparagus Lemon-Turmeric Vinaigrette
Warm Lentil Salad with Spinach & Quinoa
This is the type of salad that I seriously could not stop consuming.
Course Salad
Cuisine American
Keyword fennel, spinach, warm lentil
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 4 Servings
Calories 505 kcal
Author Alyssa
for the lentils:
- 1 cup green lentils
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 large shallot quartered
- 2 bay leaves
- Pinch of salt
for the fennel
- 1 fennel bulb
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Sprinkle of salt pepper
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Preheat the oven to 400 ºF.
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Integrate all the components for the lentils into a small saucepan. Give a boil, cover and decrease to simmer for 20 minutes.
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Slice the fennel bulb into little pieces. (I cut it into quarters, then cut each quarter into three pieces)
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Contribute to a bowl with oil and salt and pepper and toss to integrate. Transfer to a flat pan and roast in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes, till fennels is soft and beginning to brown.
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Meanwhile, quickly toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet till golden brown. Reserve.
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Blend together the dressing active ingredients in a little bowl and set this aside.
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When fennel is prepared, trim the ends where it comes together to burglarize small pieces. Add this to a large bowl together with spinach and quinoa.
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Eliminate the lid from the saucepan with the lentils and get the shallots and bay leaves. Transfer the lentils to the bowl as well. Pour dressing over the salad and toss to integrate. Sprinkle in pine nuts and toss one more time.
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Serve immediately.
Salt: 292 mg
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