Warm Lentil Salad with Sausage & Apple
We like the firmer texture of French green lentils in this hearty dinner salad featuring sausage and tart apples. Serve with pickled beets and your favorite beer.
From EatingWell: September/October 2011
Yield: 4 servings, about 2 1/4 cups each
Active Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 3 links hot or sweet turkey sausage, casings removed
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups cooked or canned (rinsed) lentils (see Tip)
- 1 small bulb fennel, finely diced
- 1 Granny Smith apple, finely diced
- 2 stalks celery with leaves, finely diced
- 6 cups arugula or mesclun greens
Preparation
- Whisk 3 tablespoons oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
- Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook, stirring often and breaking up, until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds more. Stir in lentils and heat through, about 2 minutes. Stir in 5 tablespoons of the dressing and remove from the heat. Stir in fennel, apple and celery.
- Toss greens with the remaining dressing. Serve with the warm lentil mixture on top.
- Tip: To cook lentils, place in a saucepan, cover with at least 1 inch of water, bring to a simmer and cook until just tender, 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the type of lentil. Drain and rinse with cold water. 1 cup dry lentils = about 2 1/2 cups cooked. Or use canned lentils: 15-ounce can = 1 1/2 cups. Rinse canned lentils before cooking with them to reduce the sodium by about 35%.
Nutrition Per serving:
401 calories; 20 g fat (3 g sat, 13 g mono); 53 mg cholesterol; 32 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 24 g protein; 11 g fiber; 817 mg sodium; 1011 mg potassium.
Nutrition Bonus: Folate (59% daily value), Vitamin C (30% dv), Iron & Potassium (29% dv), Zinc (25% dv), Magnesium (20% dv), Vitamin A (19% dv)
1 1/2 Carbohydrate Serving
Exchanges: 1 starch, 2 vegetable, 3 lean meat, 3 fat