Hello lovelies, today I have a very simple recipe for you: Lamb’s lettuce with apple & lentils. I currently have this salad about 3-4 times a week, I’m totally addicted to it. It doesn’t require much. If you leave out the dressing, it only contains 5 ingredients. But it has everything a salad needs: fresh green, some sweetness, it’s satisfying because of the lentils and has a nutty flavor due to the roasted seeds.
In addition, it is on the table in in minutes - healthy and just delicious. Apples and lamb's lettuce are in season at the moment, so this is the perfect salad to enjoy this spring season.
Nüsslisalat / Lamb’s lettuce
Not everyone has heard of Nüsslisalat before, but this is how lamb’s lettuce are called in Switzerland. But I think there is hardly a salad that has so many names. I still know it as Rapunzel salad, but it’s also known as field salad, mouse-ear-lettuce, nutlets, nuts, sheep's mouths, or sun-weasels. In English it's called Lamb's Lettuce - that's cute too.
It’s lamb’s lettuce season from October until March. After parsley lamb’s lettuce has the highest natural iron content of all vegetables and herbs! But not only that, lamb's lettuce contain 35 mg of vitamin C per 100 g and is therefore at the top of all salad vegetables. Like all green vegetables, lamb's lettuce can also shine with a thick portion of provitamin A, which has a particularly favorable effect on the eyes and skin: 100 g contain 663 micrograms. A special feature of lamb's lettuce are also the essential valerian oils, which make it a real nerve food. The considerable content of nerve and muscle strengthening magnesium as well as phosphorus and calcium also contribute to this.
Recipe:
Here is the recipe for lamb’s lettuce with apple & lentils:
Lamb’s lettuce with apple & lentils
Ingredients
- 100 gr 3.5 oz. red lentils
- 200 gr 7 oz. lamb’s lettuce
- 2 apples
- 1-2 shallots
- 2-3 Tbsp sunflower seeds
Dressing:
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tsp maple syrup
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Cook the red lentils in salt water according to the packet instructions (approx. 8 – 10 minutes)
- Rinse under cold water so they don’t continue to cook
- Wash the lamb’s lettuce and place them in a bowl
- Wash and finely chop the apples
- Finely chop the shallots
- Roast the sunflower seeds in a fat free pan and let them cool off
- Dressing:
- Put all ingredients in a jar and mix them well
- Put all salad ingredients in a bowl, mix them with the dressing and sprinkle the roasted sunflower seeds on top
Lamb’s lettuce have always been one of my favorite salads, because it’s so versatile and it tastes so incredibly aromatic. And it reminds me of my childhood, where we had this salad very often. Next to Chinese cabbage it’s also my family’s favorite. In comparison to most other lettuce it tastes even aromatic in Winter, due to the fact it’s high season for lamb’s lettuce in Winter.
I have mentioned before how much I like lentils and how important it is to me that we eat them on a regular basis. With lamb’s lettuce with apple & lentils you have one more opportunity to serve them, as they are rather reluctant in a salad.
Please make sure you let me know if you liked this salad – I really hope so!
Love, Verena
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