We love a good Green Lentil Caesar Salad and this deliciously simple, chef-curated recipe doesn't disappoint. Time to bust out the pots and pans!
The quantities provided above are averages only.
Boxes and ingredients are packed in facilities that handles Peanut, Nuts, Sesame, Fish, Crustaceans, Milk, Egg, Mustard, Celery, Soya, Gluten and Sulphites. Due to the war in Ukraine, it has been necessary to substitute sunflower oil with rapeseed oil in some products without a label change. The FSA have advised that allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are rare.
1
Echalion Shallot
1
Ciabatta
1
Baby Gem Lettuce
100
Asparagus
1
Lemon
20
Walnuts
(Contains Nuts May contain Peanut, Sesame, Nuts)
1
Courgette
(May contain Celery)
½
Dijon Mustard
80
Mangetout
1
Lentils
40
Grated Hard Italian Style Cheese
(Contains Milk, Egg)
1
Mayonnaise
2
Olive Oil for the Dressing
2
Water
Preheat your oven to 180°C. Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Trim the courgette then slice into rounds about 1cm thick. Trim 1cm from the bottom of the asparagus (discard the bottom) then slice down the middle lengthways. Halve, peel and thinly slice the shallot. Drain and rinse the lentils using a sieve. Halve the lemon.
Tear the ciabatta into roughly 2cm chunks and pop on a baking tray. Drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven until golden, 8-10 mins. Once golden, remove from your oven and set aside.
In the meantime, heat a frying pan on high heat (no oil). Add the courgette and season with salt. Leave to cook until charred, 5 mins each side. Meanwhile, add the asparagus to the boiling water along with 0.25 tsp of salt. Cook for 1 minute then add the mange tout to the pan, cook for 1 minute more. Drain in a colander. Quickly run under cold water until cool then allow to drain fully. Once the courgette is charred, add to a large bowl, set aside to cool.
In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, mustard (see ingredients for amount) and three quarters of the hard Italian cheese. Squeeze in the lemon juice and add the olive oil for the dressing (see ingredients for amount). Add the water for the dressing (see ingredients for amount) and season to taste with salt and pepper, mix together. TIP: The dressing will be quite thin, but that's fine - it will coat the salad nicely.
Return your now-empty frying pan to a medium heat. with a drizzle of oil. Once hot, add the shallot to the pan. Cook until soft, 4-5 mins, stirring occasionally. Once soft, stir in the lentils and season with salt and pepper. Cook until warmed through, 2-3 mins stirring occasionally, then remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, trim the lettuce, then roughly tear the leaves into large pieces. Pop them in the large bowl with the courgette. Add the asparagus, mangetout and croutons. Pour over half of the dressing, toss to coat the leaves well, then divide the salad between your bowls.Spoon the lentils on top of the salad then sprinkle over the walnuts and the remaining hard Italian cheese. Drizzle the rest of dressing all over the top. Enjoy!