It's been an emotional few weeks in our house. It's hard to believe that our first born son is graduating middle school tomorrow and will be off to high school next year. And my daughter is about to finish her last few days of elementary school. With promotion ceremonies and goodbyes fully underway, I seriously don't think my eyes have been dry for days.
As a new mom, I always remembered people telling me "don't blink, they'll be grown before you know it!" At the time, I don't think I really believed it or cared much. But the other day, I actually had to look UP to talk to my son. I couldn't believe it! My own son was actually taller then me! It wasn't until then that it hit me. Yep! What people had told me was true. Looking back, the last 14 years are a blur. And now here we are.
It's moments like these that make me reflect on the type of parent I am and whether or not I've done a good job. From the looks of it, I'm thinking... so far so good. I know I probably have the most challenging years still ahead of me, but I'm grateful to be given the challenge and I look forward to what lies ahead for them.
With the future in mind, let's shift gears and talk about this bright and gorgeous salad! Summer is almost here and I know you're all looking forward to those early mornings at the farmers market! I know I am!
This may be one of my favorite salads of all time! It combines all of that beautiful summer produce into one salad. It's a hearty and satisfying meal full of protein, iron, antioxidants and fiber. There are so many delicious flavors and textures going on. It's perfect for lunch or dinner!
To start you'll need to make some lentils in advance and let them cool. I love using arugula for this salad because it's lends more flavor and a slightly peppery kick. Using one pot, you can boil the potatoes and throw in the string beans towards the end of the cooking process. Once cooked, they're tossed together with some garlic salt, butter and parsley. Yum!
It's all topped with the most perfectly delicious champagne mustard vinaigrette. It's slightly sweet yet tangy but doesn't overpower the vegetables. Believe me, it's worth having some champagne vinegar in your pantry! It's that good.
I hope you guys enjoy this salad as much as we do! Summer here we come!
*For the Champagne Vinaigrette:
3 tablespoon champagne vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
1 heaping teaspoon of grainy mustard
1 tablespoon honey
¼ teaspoon coarse salt
pepper
Farmers Market Potato and Lentil Salad
Ingredients
- 1 package arugula
- ½ cup green lentils +2 cups water
- 12 oz. baby yukon gold potatoes
- 1 small bundle green beans
- few handfuls grape tomatoes
- crumbled feta goat or blue cheese *or omit if vegan
- parsley chopped
- unsalted butter
- ¼ teaspoon garlic salt
- coarse salt
- pepper
- *champagne vinaigrette see above
Instructions
- Cook lentils in 2 cups of water for 20 minutes until tender then drain.
- At the same time, in a separate medium size pot, boil water for potatoes.
- Add potatoes and cook until almost fork tender (about 15 minutes), then add in the beans for an additional 4-5 min. until tender but not mushy.
- Drain potatoes and beans and toss them back into the pot with a pat of butter, garlic salt, pepper and parsley (slice the potatoes in half if they are on the larger side).
- In a large salad bowl, add in the arugula, potatoes and beans, tomatoes, lentils and feta.
- Toss with the champagne vinaigrette.
- Let sit 5 min to absorb flavor and serve.
This looks like everything I want to dig into in the summer! Love the idea of throwing green beans with the potatoes. Pinning!
Thank you so much Meredith! I love green beans with potatoes too!! I'm with you...summer in a bowl 🙂