Kale, Beetroot Hummus & Lentil Salad

This month we are celebrating plant based recipes with a new vegan recipe every week. If you’ve been on retreat this will be some of meals you have already enjoyed and may not even realised they are vegan. At the body retreat we cater for all dietary requirements and are regularly substituting dairy products for plant based and using other protein sources that aren’t meat or fish. We hope even if you aren’t vegan this will help give you some new ideas and recipes to try out at home.

Kale and beetroot are great staples during winter months but not always used for salads. This kale, beetroot hummus and lentil salad is light has balanced protein, fats and fibre as well as a variety of textures and flavours.

We massage the kale before using it which helps to break down the cell structure making it easier for some people to digest. You can do this with salt and oil. First we massage just with salt and leave it for 30 minutes, giving it time to tenderise and then massage again with the dressing before plating up. If you are preparing your salad ahead of time you can skip out the step on massaging with salt and simply dress the leaves and leave in the fridge. The acidity in the cider vinegar will break down the cellulose in the kale the same way the salt does.

You can find our Beetroot hummus recipe on the blog and if you’re not a beetroot lover, substitute with plain hummus. The recipe will make a slightly bigger batch of hummus which will last up to 5 days in the fridge. You can use the leftovers as a spread in a wrap, as an afternoon snack with crudites or have in our lettuce sandwich along side a mug of soup.

For the salad use whatever vegetables you have in you fridge but keep it varied, its the different textures that help make this a tasty dish. Our staples are cucumber, radish and celery. Peas and broads beans can be used from the freezer, just pour boiling water over and leave for 5 minutes to defrost.

Serves 2

2 handfuls of kale

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp beetroot hummus

50g cooked puy lentils or yellow split peas

5 cm piece of cucumber

1/2 stick celery

1/4 pepper

4 radish

1 spring onion

1 cooked beetroot, chopped into chunks

30g of peas, defrosted

6 walnuts, chopped

2 tbsp sprouted seeds

Dressing:

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 tsp apple cider vinegar (with the mother)

1/4 tsp mustard (optional)

Pepper

Method for Kale, Beetroot Hummus and Lentil Salad

Strip the kale leaves from the stalk, tear up the leaves into smaller pieces and place in a bowl. Sprinkle over the salt and massage the salt into the kale, leave for 30 minutes.
Prep the salad vegetables, slicing into small bite size pieces. If uncooked, boil the lentils for 20 minutes or until aldente.
After 30 minutes, mix the dressing together and pour over kale, massage into leaves, check seasoning and adjust as necessary.
To plate up place the kale at the bottom of the plate, dress with the prepped vegetables, lentils and sprouted seeds. Top with beetroot hummus and scatter walnuts. Enjoy!