Lentil Salad with Avocado and Grapefruit

Beans are a vegetarian's best friend! I know that's really not sexy, but it could be when you think about that versus eating the cooked flesh of an animal. Yeah, that's what I thought. I try to eat a lot of garbanzo beans, black beans, and white beans but the other day at Trader Joes, the steamed lentils were calling my name. A big, vacuum sealed, precooked bag of lentils for only about two dollars. I'll take them all! I'd bought these before, but I'd never done anything too exciting with them. Friday afternoon they were singing out to me like a beacon of light in the refrigerator at the end of a slumpy week. I needed something refreshing. I saw my pink grapefruit and homegrown meyer lemons my boss gave to me sitting on the counter. Bing! The lightbulb went off over my tired little head.

Fiber, protein, sweet, bitter, crunchy, crispy...

Homegrown Meyer Lemons!

I enjoyed this light and almost vegan meal (just sub agave nectar for the honey in the dressing) with two slices of a fresh baguette, toasted and spread with earth balance. The grapefruit was the perfect amount of bitterness needed to balance out the sweetness of the grape tomatoes and cucumber. Yum yum yum.

Refreshed.

Lentil Salad with Avocado and Grapefruit

Ingredients

2/3 cup cooked lentils
1/2 cup garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)
1/2 an avocado (cubed)
1/4 cup grape tomatoes
1/2 a pink grapefruit (segmented)
1 Persian cucumber (chopped)
1 scallion sliced
1/4 cup roasted unsalted cashews

3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (approx.)
salt + pepper to taste

Steps

1. In a medium bowl toss or shake all ingredients lentils through cucumber around until well mixed. Sprinkle sliced scallion and cashews (quartered, halved or whole, whatever you like) over mixture.
2. In a small bowl or pyrex liquid measuring cup, whisk together all ingredients orange juice- s+p.