Friday, November 6, 2009

Spiced Pumpkin, Lentil, and Goat Cheese Salad

Inspiration:
Bon Appétit

Ingredients:
  • 3/4 cup French green lentils
  • 6 cups 1-inch pieces peeled seeded sugar pumpkin or butternut squash (from about one 2-pound whole pumpkin)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon hot smoked Spanish paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 4 cups baby arugula
  • 1 cup soft goat cheese, crumbled
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced mint leaves
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Instructions:
  1. Place lentils in small bowl. Cover with cold water and soak 10 minutes; drain.

  2. Cook lentils in boiling salted water until tender but firm, about 30 minutes. Drain lentils. Rinse under cold water, then drain.

  3. Preheat oven to 375°F. Place pumpkin in large bowl; toss with 2 tablespoons oil, cumin, paprika, and sea salt. Arrange pumpkin in single layer on baking sheet; roast 20 minutes. Turn pumpkin over. Roast until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool.

  4. Combine lentils, pumpkin, and oil from baking sheet with arugula, half of goat cheese, mint, vinegar, and 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among plates; sprinkle remaining goat cheese over.


Notes:
Peeling pumpkin is not fun. I would use butternut squash next time. This was a nice weekend lunch.

Liz's Rating: 8.5/10

8 comments:

Bridget said...

Ha, yes, but I hate peeling butternut squash too. Stupid delicious squashes.

Anonymous said...

This looks really good. I'm slowly working on convincing my husband that lentils taste good, and this looks like a good dish to help me accomplish that.

HaveShoesWillTravel said...

I've never made anything with pumpkin before.

10yearstogether said...

What an interesting combination of ingredients. Looks really pretty on the plate too. I love goat cheese, H hates it.

weezermonkey said...

This looks facking dereeshus.

Crystal said...

If I didn't just make pumpkin ravioli and pumpkin pie this weekend, I'd totally make this right away. I will, however, bookmark this and make it later because it looks so gorgous and delicious!

Insomniac said...

I need to know what Tim thinks before I can fully make up my mind, I'm afraid.

Lauren Haupt Estes said...

um, yum. this looks delicious!