Protein-packed and perfect for spring, this asparagus French green lentil salad makes a lovely side dish, main course, or spring potluck dish, ideal for Easter gatherings.
If you are looking for another salad option for Spring or for Easter dinner — check out my Warm Spring Salad.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
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
- up to 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup, to taste (optional)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) 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 first cookbook The Oh She Glows Cookbook (p.107) It’s received great feedback and it’s perfect for spring as well.
Have a fun weekend everyone!
I about fainted…this looks INSANELY good!! I’m all over this baby!
Benny is a good reminder of taking lessons from animals!! And, yes to this salad!
Wow, this looks delicious. I’m pinning right away to make this weekend! I already have the asparagus ready to go :)
Lovely spring salad, Angela! Great side dish for outside picnics, too :)
It was great meeting you and your husband the other day in OG. You should promote your book there. I need to say this, you are as lovely in person as you seem online. I’m glad I decided to say hi. Have a great day.
Hey Jana, It was so nice meeting you too! I hope we bump into each other again soon. Like I said, I’m there all the time. :)
That would be great. Or we can bump into each other at the Milton farmers market. Starting less then a month from now. I like to think you might stop by sometime.
Oh my word Angela!! This looks sooo good! Love the combo of flavors. I may have to make this for my lunch rotation! Yum.
I do adore how our furbabies can teach us more about life than we, the “advanced people” that we are, just don’t get. I’ve got a 14 year old Doxie who is nearly blind but she keeps motoring on just bumping into things and not caring. Just amazing.
Aw, Doxie sounds so sweet.
I’m so glad Benny is feeling better! My fiancee and I love dogs, we think they are the best!
Can’t wait to try this salad. Do you have any recommended substitutes for potato?
This looks ridiculously delicious! I love all of the salads you create, I’m a big fan of using tons of ingredients.
This looks like an incredibly satisfying salad. Think I’ll try it with the beluga lentils I just picked up, and maybe throw in some radishes …. Thanks!
Absolutely lovely salad Angela. Simple and refreshing. Perfect!
This is exactly what I want to eat for lunch everyday! Love lentils!!!
Hi!
This looks AMAZING. Could you sub in sweet potatoes instead of yellow, or would they be to soft?
Thanks!
Oh, this is happening!
Oh my! That tangy mustard-lemon dressing sounds so good!
The reason why I was drawn to your website, truthfully was because were spitting images of each other :) yes Mrs.Liddon that was a compliment, just in case you need to stop and ponder… During Christmas I would make suggestions to yourself about what I believed were nothing more than positive creative ideas that I would probably verse with yourself about -O and we both no I have tried… Your most beautiful food picture was your Nanaimo Bars the colored popped and it gave me that beautiful feeling of the Halloween ,Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. That’s why I made suggestions. I already read your book and passed it on to someone I new who wanted one.
The most funny classic moment I read from osg was when some one asked you if when buying hemp seeds how to de shell them – Your response O I didn’t no they came with shells. funny stuff… You truly are YOU. We’ve all been through a lot… and are still.
Enjoy your day…
Looks yum!
Question: are you using dry lentils?
I know you have been on a mustard kick lately, but I really don’t like it. Any suggestions for an alternate dressing? Everything else looks delicious!
She did suggest making the Avocado Potato Salad from her cookbook. Maybe use that dressing for this recipe
Hi Stephany, if you have the cookbook the avocado potato salad is one of my favs and it’s fairly similar to this recipe only without lentils and such, but you can easily tweak it.
This looks fantastic! I was wondering if you think this would go well over a bed of shredded kale or possibly spinach sprinkled with hemp seeds. This looks amazing as is but i always like to add the extra health kick, post-gym touch. I definitely do not want to alter too much. If you have any suggestions, please advise! Thanks again for your inspiring recipes & posts! :-)
Thanks for a gorgeous, hearty and awesome looking salad! pinned :)
Oh my, this looks SO delicious, I’m definitely going to try this soon. Thank you for the idea!
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