Interesting salads. I love interesting salads!
Clearly, I’m not alone.
Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of a “funeral garden” outside a rock-cut tomb on Dra Abu el-Naga hill in Luxor. Apparently, they have found four thousand year-old evidence of lettuce! There also are ancient tomb paintings that include lettuce representations. So, the Egyptians were noshing on salads alongside those beers they so famously enjoyed. Imagine that!
The Greeks and Romans also loved their salads. For them it was mixed greens dressed oil, salt and vinegar–a vinaigrette! The Romans, in fact, are believed to have introduced lettuces to the rest Europe.
Later, during the European Renaissance, the humanistic appreciation of beauty carried over to food. The “foodies” of that era often featured elaborate (and artful!, of course) salads composed of exotic ingredients on their tables.
As the age of exploration dawned, Columbus is believed to have delivered lettuce seeds to the Americas (along with garlic and onions–way to go Columbus!).
But…back to my table. When I was growing up, salad, if there was any on the table, was always a chopped salad with iceberg lettuce and Wishbone Italian Salad Dressing. Boring. Just boring.
Now, I seek out inventive salad courses whenever and wherever I can. A salad now catches my attention when it incorporates interesting (and sometimes unusual) ingredients and a variety of interesting textures. Plus points if the salad is beautiful. That is the magic of a Caesar Salad, for example.
This Red Potatoes With Lentils and Avocado Sauce salad is a very interesting salad, mixing as it does a creamy avocado sauce with succulent roasted potatoes, the bitter greens bite of arugula and toothsome black lentils. I used Rancho Gordo’s wonderful Black Caviar lentils (Rancho Gordo) for this dish and they added a perfect chew. They are a particularly beautiful little lentil, too. You could use puy lentils if you can’t find Rancho Gordo’s lentils.
This dish is based on one from Hetty McKinnon’s cookbook, Tenderheart. This cookbook can be ordered through your local bookstore or at Amazon here.
Red Potatoes with Lentils and Avocado Sauce
Ingredients
- For the Salad
- Red potatoes
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt and black pepper
- 1 C. black lentils
- Handful of cliantro
- Handful of arugula leaves
- Lime wedges
- For the avocado sauce
- 1 small shallot (chopped)
- 1 garlic clove (chopped)
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1/2 jalapeno pepper (chopped)
- 1/2 C. cilantro (chopped)
- 1/2 C. chopped parsley
- 1 T. rice vinegar
- Juice of one lime
- Salt
- 2 1/2 T. extra-virgin. olive oil (or more)
Directions
- Step 1 Clean red potatoes and toss in a good quality olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast potatoes at 400 degrees F. until they can be pierced through but still hold their shape. A little color on the roasted potatoes will add to the visual appeal of the salad. Remove from oven and cool. Cut potatoes into quarters.
- Step 2 Boil the lentils in a saucepan of salted water for about 20 minutes. You want the lentils to be tender but firm. When the lentils are cooked, drain them and let them dry a bit. Drizzle a couple of tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil over the lentils. Set aside until you are ready to assemble the salad.
- Step 3 Prepare the avocado sauce. Using your blender or food processor, blend all of the ingredients except the olive oil until you have a smooth puree. Slowly drizzle the olive oil into the puree until you have a spreadable sauce. (Use extra olive oil if necessary to get the proper consistency.)
- Step 4 To plate this salad, spread some of the avocado sauce on the bottom of your serving dish. Arrange the greens over the sauce. Spoon some of the lentils over the green leaves. Arrange the quartered roasted potatoes over the leaves and lentils. Add a few dollops of the avocado sauce over the salad and some more of the lentils.
