Curried Lentil Salad (Vegan, Gluten Free)

Sometimes you experiment with great results, other times not so much. I am pleased to say that my Curried Lentil Salad was the later.

 When you first move you don't have a lot of food or a lot of spices or a lot of tools to work with. Sometimes you aren't used to your new refrigerator and its frigid temperatures and wake up to find all of your produce frozen. And sometimes you're sick of eating cereal and want to eat something cooked, homemade, something that was cooked with care, not poured out of a box. Insert this salad. This was a concoction derived from saving my produce that had frozen so they didn't taste so good fresh anymore, but hadn't gone bad and also wanting to use what I had in my pantry so I didn't need to buy more food at the grocery store.

The only pot we have (while we wait for the rest of our stuff to show up) is my wok. So that is how I cooked the lentils. I wouldn't recommend it, it's takes a long time, but if that's all you have it works. Plus, that means that's this entire salad was prepared in one pot, that's how simple it is.

Yes, I did use a frosting spatula to stir this salad with. Hey, sometimes you just have to work with what you have. This simple, tasty salad would be great as a side, a light lunch or dinner or just because you want to impress your friends and family with a pretty dish. No one said simple can't be fancy.

This recipe is more of a guideline to recreate the salad yourself. None of the measurements need to be exact. Just play around with it to make it match your taste preferences. Feel free to add some fresh ground pepper if you'd like, I just didn't have any.

Curried Lentil Salad

• 1/4 Cup Lentils
• 1 Red Pepper
• 3 Cups Spinach
• Sea Salt to taste
• Muchi Curry Powder to taste
• 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Splash of Red Wine Vinegar
• A Few Cilantro Sprigs

Makes 1-3 servings.

Cook lentils according to package directions, adding the muchi curry powder and a pinch of sea salt. Slice the red pepper and saute with the olive oil until browned on the outside. Remove from heat and add the spinach, stirring it occasionally, just until the spinach is slightly wilted. Add salt, cilantro and red wine vinegar to taste. Add the lentils. Serve and enjoy!