A year and a half ago, my brother-in-law’s Golden Retriever, Benny, was struck by a car. He was already an older dog and I was worried that he wouldn’t be able to bounce back from a broken leg and the long recovery that followed. The first few months of recovery and rehab were challenging on Benny and the immediate family. To be honest, I didn’t know if he would make it through the long winter. He had to be carried up and down the front porch stairs so he could do his business outside and there were a couple slips and falls over the winter. Every time I saw him at family gatherings, I’d feel myself well up with tears as I sat on the floor giving him rubs. On one hand, he was struggling with mobility, but on the other hand, his resolve to live out his normal life never once faltered. Benny remained happy as he always was, thumping his tail on the floor whenever we’d walk by. He never wanted to miss out on any excitement!
Now it’s been over a year and a half since Benny’s accident and it’s been amazing to witness his determination to lead a normal life. Over Easter we were at my in-laws and Benny was there as he always is, hobbling along with us outside just as happy as could be. No one was more happy to be outside in the beautiful spring weather than Benny. He wasn’t going to let a bad leg or old age hold him back from experiencing all of his favourite things. After dinner, he’d collapse on his favourite rug for the night, both exhausted and purely content. Sure, he isn’t as speedy as he was in his younger years, but this is his new normal and he doesn’t seem to be overly concerned about it. I felt ashamed of myself for ever once doubting that he would overcome this. Dogs like Benny (and animals in general) are great reminders to make the best of any situation and to find joy in life’s simple pleasures. Our society loves to put animals “below” us, but we can learn so much from them.
And while I’m on the topic of inspiring dogs, you should watch this two-legged dog video if you haven’t seen it yet. Unreal!
Roasted Potato and Asparagus Lentil Salad with Tangy Mustard-Lemon Dressing
Yield
4 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Protein-packed and perfect for spring, this French green lentil salad makes a lovely side dish, main course, or spring potluck dish. Roasted potatoes and asparagus are folded into the salad along with a tangy mustard-lemon dressing. I also roasted the red onion, but I think next time I might leave the onion raw for a fresh crunch. I imagine this salad would also be fantastic with some cooked quinoa mixed in or using any seasonal vegetables you prefer. The dressing makes a lot - 2/3 cup - so I prefer to stir in half of the dressing into the salad and then serve the rest of the dressing on the side to drizzle on top. This dressing is inspired by one I came across in It's All Good.
Ingredients
FOR THE SALAD:
- 1 cup uncooked French green lentils/du Puy lentils (about 2 1/2 cups cooked)
- 3 medium yellow potatoes, diced (about 3 1/2 cups)
- 1 bunch asparagus, ends broken off and chopped
- 1/2 medium red onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, divided
- handful minced fresh dill, for garnish (optional)
FOR THE DRESSING (makes 2/3 cup):
- 2 tablespoons coarse seeded/old fashioned mustard (see photo in post)
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3-4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, to taste
- pinch or two fine grain sea salt or pink salt
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 425F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Rinse lentils in a fine mesh sieve. Place lentils in a medium pot along with 3 cups of water. Bring water to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and simmer the lentils for about 18-20 minutes, or until tender. Drain off water and season lentils with salt (such as Herbamare).
- Place chopped potatoes on one baking sheet and drizzle with 1/2 tablespoon oil. Toss to coat and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
- Roast the potatoes for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, place the asparagus on the other baking sheet (and the red onion if you prefer to roast it too - see headnote) and drizzle with 1/2 tbsp. oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- After the potatoes have roasted for 15 minutes, flip the potatoes and return them to the oven along with the asparagus (and red onion if you are roasting that) for another 12-15 minutes. The potatoes should be golden on the bottom when ready and the asparagus will be tender. Add roasted veggies into a large bowl along with the lentils and gently toss to combine.
- Meanwhile, prepare the dressing by whisking all of the dressing ingredients together. I love a tangy dressing with a bite so I used 4 tbsp. lemon juice. If you prefer a less acidic dressing you might want to add more olive oil or you can also experiment with adding a touch of maple syrup (the sweetness will offset a bit of the bite). It's definitely a dressing you can play around with!
- Pour half of the dressing onto the veggies and lentils in the bowl and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the salad warm with a garnish of fresh dill (optional), with the rest of the dressing served on the side.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
If you aren’t a fan of mustard dressings, I recommend making the Creamy Avocado-Potato Salad recipe in my cookbook (p.107) It’s received great feedback and it’s perfect for spring as well.
Have a fun weekend everyone!
Yum! This looks perfect for spring! Animals are truly amazing. Hopefully one day society will realize that Bentham was right when he said that every being counts as one and only one :)
I’ve been on such a lentil kick lately and I’ve needed some new ways to eat them. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Just made this for lunch – amazing! Thank you.
Hi Angela
This looks awesome! I just bought your cookbook and our whole family is excited to get it. Congrats on all the publicity too. I saw your recipes in Hello and Brendan Brazier’s magazine and it made me glow to watch your success.
Natalie
Love this! Made it tonight and was worried the mustard dressing would be overwhelming but it was wonderful! Angela, you are fabulous and inspiring! If you are ever in Connecticut I hope to see you! I love your blog and the cook book is wonderful!
I made the recipe today. It caught my eye, and I happened to have some asparagus in the fridge already with no plans for it. I loved the salad, my husband and I devoured more than 2/3 of it (serves 4? we usually have 6 meals from a serves 4), but we both agreed that the asparagus was the weakest part of the dish. Next time, I would try something else in place of the asparagus, not sure what though… maybe blanched brocoli?
Will definitely try this in some way. The recipe in your book with the avocado dressing is deeelish!
This looks amazing! Do you have the nutritional facts on this recipe?
This looks delicious! Any ideas on a flavorful substitute for the mustards?…my husband has a severe life-threatening allergy to mustard :-(
Made this tonight. Lovely spring evening in the pacific northwest – chilly and blustery but sunny – this was an excellent season spanner. I have some tweaks in mind for next time – and there will be a next time. Thanks for a lovely recipe to inspire me on a Sunday evening.
Happy Spring!
Asparagus season! I will probably put some extra pepper in this recepie to fire it up a little bit.
Thank you for another great recipe! I made this for lunch yesterday and LOVED it! I have found myself thinking about this lunch several times since then and simply saying “Mmmmm…”
Our pets can teach us many life lessons, I love my Chocolate Lab kisses everyday. I have say Angela, I ordered your book last week, got it Friday and spent the entire weekend reading and making so many recipes from your book!!! I absolutely love it. I made the Almond butter, almond/Choc chip cookies, green monster and wanted to EAT the entire book. I’m not Vegan, but lead a healthy lifestyle and receive a veggie/fruit CSA, eat eggs raised from the farm, high quality meats in moderation and limit all processed foods. Your book is so awesome, keep up the amazing work! It has truly given me some new motivation and inspiration in the kitchen.
I’ve been reading your blog for a while & recently purchased your book (LOVE.IT!!). I have to tell you that my co-workers & I are loving the roasted chickpeas! One of my co-workers has a peanut allergy & eating the chickpeas reminds her of peanuts. Another co-worker snacks all day long & loves the chickpeas (especially the salt & vinegar version). I love the salt & vinegar, too, but usually make the regular version. There’s something about the flavors that just satisfy my snack cravings. Thank you!
This salad was awesome! Extremely satisfying!
I modified with butternut squash instead of potatoes and the sweetness balanced the tart lemony dressing perfectly. :)
Loved your story. I adopted a Benny in October from a rescue group. He’s older, mostly blind and deaf, and arthritic, but is sweet as can be and never complains. He just takes one day at a time the best he can and brings us a lot of joy. Must be something special about the name Benny I guess :)
You have mad skills, Angela! My daughter wanted it over pasta because, unfortunately, potatoes are never enough starch. She is not a huge fan of mustard so we did 1/4th the amount. She is a HUGE dill fan and we quadrupled the dill. Such a lovely mix of flavors and textures. The yellow potatoes were a perfect choice. I totally forgot the onion, and she didn’t even notice. I like your idea to add raw onion – for next time! Another amazing creation…Thanks!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I only got 2 tbsp of juice from the lemon I had on hand so I made up the rest with some meyer lemon vinegar. Great recipe!
This is so yummy!!! All the flavors blended together are amazing. The fresh dill is a truly wonderful addition. I wasn’t sure what to do with the onions. To roast or not to roast so I did half and half and it was great. Thanks for another, amazing recipe!!!!!
I made this and it was great, all of it, including the asparagus. i also did a half roasted onion, half raw. Thumbs up, I’ll definitely make it again, maybe next time with sweet potato.
That looks wonderful! I also just wanted to say that I just got your cookbook on Friday. I have marked sooooo many recipes. We tried to tortilla soup already and it was a huge hit! Thanks! Next up… the black bean and sweet potato enchiladas. :)
Wow, this looks so good!!
Made this for dinner last night!! Delicious. I roasted the onion along with the asparagus. Next time (when hopefully the weather will be warmer) I will leave it raw for a comparison. I could also see subbing broccoli or cauliflower for the asparagus. Thanks for posting! I LOVE your book by the way.
Made this last night – one of the BEST lentil salad recipes my family and I have had. Simply scrumptious.
This was so good!!!! I used green beans instead of asparagus. Even my husband, the food critic gave this a thumbs up.
Ahh, love the inspiring Benny story – he sounds like such a sweetie! This salad looks amazing! Definitely going to try it. I made the crowd pleasing tex mex casserole last night to rave reviews. I told my hubs “it’s from OSG cookbook” and his reply was “Of course it is. Have you made anything that wasn’t a home run from that book?” Hope your pregnancy is going well, you look beautiful with that little bump! <3
This salad sounds so good! I love the idea of mixing lentils with all the best spring veg and covering the whole shebang with a tangy dressing. Love it!
I had a dog (Cody) when I was young that got hit by a car, and he didn’t make it. Hearing Benny’s story is a painful reminder, but such an inspiration. Thanks for sharing! I will also have to try this lentil salad.
This looks great Angela!!!
I love fresh dill on everything come spring…. just wish my family liked it too – I always have too much lying around ;)
What a great satisfying dish – my kind of a meal for sure ;)
xox ella
Made this subbing in sweet potatoes. Delicious. Everyone at the dinner party loved it!
My omnivore husband and I just finished eating this for dinner and it was delicious!
I just made this for dinner and it was delicious. Can’t wait for leftovers at lunch tomorrow. Highly recommend!
Very delicious. I made it tonight!
Made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! I don’t like dill so I used fresh Italian parsley. Even my meat eating husband gave it two thumbs up! I had to hide the leftovers in the back of the fridge so I will have some for lunch tomorrow! I’ll definitely make this again and again!
This was very easy and enjoyable! I definitely used up all the dressing and might even add more mustard next time. Loved how easy and healthy it was and my husband loved too! Thx!
I also ran out to buy asparagus as soon as I saw this recipe. Made it for dinner last night and just finished the leftovers for lunch, so good. Took your advice about not cooking the red onions. I added them to the dressing to mellow them out a bit. Wish I had more asparagus……….
I tried this and it was so good! I ordered your cookbook and can’t wait. I’m not vegan or vegetarian, but eat that way a lot because I’m pretty apathetic about meat (unless it’s bacon or cured) and am usually too cheap to buy it if I’m cooking just for me. Anyway, I loooove a lot of your food and am hopeful that my husband will too once I start using your cookbook!
Angela,
I made this for dinner — and it is delicious! I added maple syrup to the dressing because I added too much lemon! It was so good, and I plan to make it once a week this summer!
Cheers,
Kathy
I made this recipe this weekend for a family gathering. Fantastic flavors and simple to make. I mixed in some bulgar I had to empty my fridge. I will use this dressing for many other dishes! Delicious!
My daughter asked for this again today for breakfast. We also used the yummy mustard dressing as a dip for artichokes leaves and heart from boiled whole artichokes tonight. So scrumptious!
This was fantastic. Lots of flavor, great textures, and very easy to make. So clever to mix the two mustards. I skipped the dill for convenience.
Anything with asparagus!
Looks like a yummy recipe with those gorgeous pictures. Makes me desperately want my garden back for the fresh veggies and herbs. :)
~darlene
Reading your post about Benny welled up tears to my eyes but also brought a huge smile to my face!
I have a 9 year old Chocolate Lab that endured the same type of injury almost 4 years ago, with the same outcome! He is such a trooper, goes out and has a blast every day but has definitely had to slow down.
The spirit of an animal is so amazing…and inspiring! Thank you for sharing this story…and this wonderfully yummy recipe!
OMG I made this twice this week and EVERYBODY, including my 5 year old, just loved it. Thank you so much – so happy I found your website!
This was DELISH!!! Thanks so much for this recipe….we both absolutely loved it!
I just made this recipe today, my first from Oh She Glows. I’m having a taste now and it is delicious! It’s fresh and tasty. With my first Oh She Glows success, I’m really looking forward to trying others in the future!
I made this, chickpea salad, and glo bars for our weekend trip to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Compliments from everyone on the tasty and healthy food in the midst of ribbon fries and kettle corn (which we also had to have but we at least felt virtuous for most of the trip).
This was amazing!! I skipped the dill and the home because I did not have any in the house and I did not have the old fashioned mustard. But it was still fantastic none the less!
Hey Angela!
Holy crap this is soooo good! I’m not super adventurous in the kitchen, but I’ve literally become bored with food. So your blog/book are my new bible. Therriault is loving it all too :)
Thanks for the easy to follow, crazy ass delicious recipes!!
xx
Shawna
I made the Creamy Avocado-Potato Salad from your cookbook and it is fantastic! I cannot wait to try this spin on it next. Who craves potato salad? Weirdo me, go figure.