Lentil watermelon salad with a Secret Ingredient

Lo and behold, a post that's not about sweet stuff! I had a brunch with my lovely ladies here in Berlin, and I wanted to test out a recipe from a wonderful new book, Mielekkäät eväät by Outi Rinne, who is the multitalent behind a delicious Finnish blog Mieliruoka. Outi writes that lentils are a good vegetarian source of iron that needs vitamin C for its absorption, so combining lentils into a salad with fresh veggies is a good idea. The salad is very nice by itself, but it is made absolutely perfect by a mint vinaigrette and my newest addiction, coconut bacon, which deserves its own post where I will sing its praises in more detail.

But here, without further ado, Outi's wonderful recipe. Enjoy!

Lentil watermelon salad

4 portions

Salad

2 1/2 dl beluga lentils (or some other small, shelled lentils. I used troy lentils)

1/2 tsp salt, black pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 l water melon cubes

2 young red onions with their stalks (or 3-4 scallion stalks)

250 g lollo rosso or some other reddish sort of lettuce 

1/2 red radicchio (or more of some sort of lettuce you can get your hands on)

coconut bacon / parmesan chips

Mint vinaigrette

1 pot of mint 

5 sprigs of parsley

(some coriander leaves, if you happen to have some)

1 dl basil leaves

1 1/2 dl olive oil

juice from 1/2 lemon + 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

1/2 tsp salt

black pepper

1 garlic clove

Prepare mint vinaigrette by putting all ingredients into a blender or hand mixer jug and buzz into a smooth vinaigrette. Put into the fridge while you prepare the salad and the Awesome Secret Ingredient (aka. coconut bacon).

Cook lentils according to the package. Note that some lentils require soaking; I soaked my troy lentils overnight although the package called for only 3 hours. I wasn't entirely sure if the recipe called for 2,5 dl cooked lentils or the amount of lentils you get when cooking 2,5 dl raw lentils, so I soaked 2,5 dl, ended up with 6 dl of cooked lentils of which I used 3 dl for the salad. After cooking rinse the lentils with cold water. Add salt, black pepper and olive oil and mix.

Cube watermelon, slice the onion into thin slices and mix with the lentils. Spread the lettuce on a tray of  line a salad bowl with them. Spread some of the vinaigrette on top. Spoon the lentil melon onion mixture on top and finish with the rest of vinaigrette before serving. Sprinkle with THE MOST AWESOME THING EVER, aka. coconut bacon, or parmesan chips.