This recipe is an update of one I did for my cookbook Simple Green Suppers. Since that was a vegetarian book, I suggested serving it warm for supper. But here I give it an extra squeeze of lime and more apples (yay apple season!) and I think it’s just as nice at room temperature as a side dish or part of a potluck. I eat it for lunch! However you do it, cooking the rice and the lentils ahead when you've got time to put them on the stove will make assembling this easier when the time comes.

In a salad like this, I much prefer French green lentils or Black Beluga lentils because they hold their shape so well. But for the batch I made for the photo above, I could only find green lentils. They were Simpli brand, and they held together quite well. I used a Honeycrisp apple in this batch and loved it. FYI, you can replace the cabbage with slivered Brussels sprouts if you like.

Serves 4 as a side dish

  • ¼ cup neutral oil or olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon packed dark brown sugar (or turbinado sugar for alpha-gal folks)
  • Kosher salt
  • 1 cup diced yellow onion
  • 2 cups diced green or savoy cabbage
  • 2 cups cooked short- or long-grain brown rice (See method)
  • 1 cup cooked lentils, preferably French (duPuy) or black beluga (see method below)
  • 1 1/3 cups diced, unpeeled tart-sweet apple
  • 1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries
  • 1/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts ½ cup fresh parsley leaves
  • 2 to 4 teaspoons fresh lime juice or a big wedge of lime

 

1. In a small bowl, whisk together 3 tablespoons of the oil and the vinegar, mustard, brown sugar, and a big pinch of salt. Whisk until emulsified and set aside.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, cabbage, and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the veggies are limp and browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.

3. If you like, reheat the rice and the lentils in separate bowls in the microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute. Season both the rice and the lentils to taste with a little salt. Add to the bowl of cabbage and onions.

4. Add the apples, cranberries, walnuts, half of the parsley, and all the mustard dressing. Stir well, taste, and season with more salt if necessary. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of lime juice and stir and taste again. Add a little more lime juice if you like.

5. Serve garnished with the remaining parsley leaves.

 

*To cook lentils: Pick through lentils to discard any pebbles. Rinse well. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil and add 1 cup lentils (or less if you like - 1 cup dry yields about 3 cups cooked, so for this recipe, you could cook just 1/2 cup). Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook gently for 15 minutes; taste for texture and continue cooking and tasting every few minutes until you reach a desired texture. Drain the lentils well and spread on a baking sheet to cool down and dry a bit. Be aware that the larger green and brown (common) lentils will cook a bit more unevenly than the smaller lentils. Some may begin to fall apart a bit before others are fully cooked. But cooking at a very gentle simmer helps with this.