20 minute Curry Red Lentil Salad is full of big flavor – chewy lentils, sweet plump raisins, bright salty capers and a healthy sweet curry dressing.
It was a lovely sunny spring day when my world was almost shattered.
Reed and I were at the park with a tub of my absolute favorite deli salad of all time – a version of this Curry Red Lentil Salad. It was the first time I was introducing him to this longtime food love of mine. After his first taste, he proceeded to tell me this would probably be a three biter.
As in he would be done with it after only three bites?! The best salad of all time?! THREE BITES!!
This perfect salad with its chewy mild-flavored red lentils, plump juicy raisins, salty capers and sweet curry dressing. It is sweet, salty, citrusy, flavorful, everything-you-want-in-a-salad perfection.
It was then that I had to question my choice for a lifelong mate. If we couldn’t share the same taste in salad, what did we even have in common?
It was when I was deep in thought pondering this question that I realized my spoon was hitting the bottom of the plastic container. I see you Mister Three Bites. More like polished off the whole container!
Since that first rocky meeting, Reed has been asking for a homemade version of this lentil salad every single week. And to be clear, that was over 7 weeks ago.
This salad is irresistible.
Let’s take a closer look at the ingredients in our Curry Red Lentil Salad to find out why:
- Red lentils – aka the creme de la creme of the lentil family. Mild in flavor, creamy in texture, cook up in 10 minutes.
- Curry powder – not the spicy kind, the kind full of warm Indian flavors that make you feel like all is right in the world
- Raisins – a sweet pop of flavor and a really nice lentil texture breaker upper
- Capers – 100% weird in theory in this recipe. 100% delicious and necessary in real life. They add the perfect salty briny pop.
- Orange juice – this dressing base adds a sweet citrus flavor without overpowering all the flavors
- Apple cider vinegar – a nice acidic pop to bring out the flavors of the salad
Now that I know Reed and I are truly compatible, I have a new, even bigger, problem I hadn’t anticipated…. I now have to SHARE this salad with him!
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20 minute Curry Red Lentil Salad is full of big flavor – chewy lentils, sweet plump raisins, bright salty capers and a healthy sweet curry dressing.
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 2 cups split red lentils
- 3 cups water
- 1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup capers
For the dressing:
- 1/2 cup orange juice (preferably freshly squeezed)
- 1/4 cup avocado oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add the water to a medium pot and bring it to a simmer.
- While the water is heating add the chopped onion and apple cider vinegar to a small bowl. Toss and set aside. The vinegar will take the “bite” out of the raw onion.
- Once the water is ready, add in the lentils and simmer until they are tender, about 5 minutes. Add in the raisins and simmer for 1 more minute. Drain the lentils and raisins, making sure to drain off as much water as possible, and place them in a bowl.
- Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Add in the onions with the vinegar they soaked in. Pour this over the salad. Add in the capers and toss well. Serve warm, room temperature, or cold straight from the fridge. Leftovers will keep for 3-5 days in the fridge.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6th recipe
- Calories: 292
- Sugar: 11g
- Sodium: 578mg
- Fat: 2g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 52g
- Fiber: 21g
- Protein: 17g
Keywords: mild, sweet, caper, raisin, easy, healthy, vegan, vegetarian, grain free, gluten free, dairy free, quick, side
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