Until I moved away from home and started eating for health around 10 years ago, I never even knew about lentils. Given that lentils are tasty, filling and a nutrient superstar, it has now become a staple in my diet. Lentils are packed with fiber, protein, minerals and vitamins. They are fairly low in calories (230 calories per cup cooked) and contain almost no fat. I love eating foods that I know are good for my body and even better is when the meal keeps me full for hours, like this salad.
This salad has it all. It´s filling, it´s tasty and it´s pretty. It sounds silly to say that it looks pretty, but we all eat with our eyes and just look at all those beautiful colors! Doesn’t´t that make you happy? For a healthy and complete diet that covers all your nutrient needs, a good advice is to eat food of all colors of the rain bow. This salad covers most of them!
It works perfectly for both lunch and dinner – in particular when the weather is hot like at the moment. If you are vegan or have shellfish allergies, the salad is also great with tofu as a substitution. Of course, you could also just leave it out completely!
Lentil & Shrimp Salad
Serves 8
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry lentils
- 100g arugula
- 1/2 cucumber
- 5 green onions
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 mango
- 1 cup edamame beans (no shells)
- 1 cup pomegranate seeds
- 800g shrimps
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 spicy red pepper
METHOD
Rinse the lentils and boil with a bit of boullion according to the package instructions.
While the lentils are cooking, rinse the arugula and chop the cucumber, green onions, bell peppers and mango.
Combine the arugula, chopped vegetables, edamame beans and pomegranate seeds in a large salad bowl.
When the lentils are done cooking – be careful not to overcook them so they become mushy! – strain any excess water and leave the lentils to cool a bit.
Finely chop the garlic and red pepper.
In a large pan, cook the shrimps. When the shrimps are done cooking, strain any excess liquids from the pan. Add the garlic and pepper to the shrimps and continue cooking for a couple of minutes.
Remove the shrimps from the heat and add both the shrimps and the lentils to the other salad ingredients in the salad bowl.
Toss and serve!
NOTES
The salad can be served either warm or cold. I´m not even sure which I prefer as both are delicious! Normally I have it warm for dinner and have cold leftovers for lunch the next day.
Let me know how you like it!
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