This warm radish and lentil salad is a great way to use up radishes in a tasty and healthy salad. The radishes are a perfect addition to the Brussel sprouts, bacon, garlic, and chives. Add some lentils for protein and mix it with kale for a deliciously healthy salad!
This salad. Where to even start! My sister challenged me to make some recipes with radishes because she knew lots of friends getting radishes in their weekly farm boxes. I’ll be honest before now I rarely ever picked radishes at the store. Of all the vegetables to get, radishes are not one I typically choose voluntarily! I have always been totally intrigued by the bright pink little bulbs, but rarely enough to try them more than a handful of times. The few times I have bought them, I usually just slice them very thinly over my salads.
I wanted to create something unique and fun with radishes to answer the call of my sister’s challenge, and even though I rag on them, radishes aren’t the most horrible thing ever. I think they just take some getting used to. In our world of overly-sweet and salty, we’re not used to eating things that are slightly bitter. It’s good for us to have a range of tastes in our diet though because that means there’s a range of nutrients.
I first had the idea to add radishes to my bacon Brussel sprouts because 1) everyone loves bacon and 2) everything is made better with bacon. I thought I would just keep it there, but as I got going, my creative juices flowed and bit by bit this salad came together! I have a 1/2 full jar of lentils that need to be used before we move, so I figured I would add some lentils for protein and substance. I added garlic because again, most dishes are made better by adding garlic.
The chives I added mostly because I’ve been loving the idea of chives lately. They’ve got a slightly salty-ish kick to them (I have no idea how to describe the flavor of chives), but I thought it would pair well with the bacon.
This salad is simple and easy to make. 20 minutes is all you need for a warm and cozy salad that’s full of nutrients!
How to Make Radish & Brussel Sprouts Lentil Salad with Bacon
Start the Lentils
First and foremost, start those lentils cooking. I did 1/2 cup uncooked lentils with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer until done (about 20 minutes). You don’t want the lentils mushy.
Cook the Bacon
First, get that bacon cooking. I used thick-cut bacon, cut it into little pieces, and cooked it until done. Remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel and set aside.
Chop the Veggies
While the bacon is cooking, mince the garlic and set it aside. Next, chop the radishes and Brussel sprouts.
Saute
Over medium heat, throw the garlic and chives into the pan with the bacon grease. Saute for a minute or until fragrant. Then add the radishes and Brussel sprouts. Saute for about 10 minutes. When the lentils are done cooking, add them to the vegetables and mix everything together. I ended up using about 1/4-1/3 cup of the lentils, but feel free to use all of them if you want.
Chop the Kale
Finally, thinly slice some kale. Drizzle some olive or avocado oil on it and massage it into the kale with your hands. Now for the lemon… there are some mixed feelings about the lemon. I didn’t mind it, but my husband did not like it. So, if you want you can sprinkle a small amount over the kale and rub it in, or just leave it out altogether.
Top the kale with the warm vegetable and lentil mix and enjoy!
Radish and Lentil Salad with Bacon
Ingredients
- ¼-½ cup uncooked brown lentils
- 2 slices bacon thick cut
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 Tbsp dried chives
- 1 bunch radishes
- 10 brussel sprouts
- salt, to taste
- kale
- olive or avocado oil
- lemon juice optional
Instructions
- Cook the lentils according to the directions on the package. I did 1/2 cup lentils to 1 cup water. Bring to boil then simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until done with the rest of the dish.
- Cut the bacon into little pieces and cook. When done, remove onto a paper towel, saving the grease in the pan.
- While the bacon is cooking, chop the garlic, radishes, and brussel sprouts.
- Over medium heat, add the garlic and chives to the bacon grease. Saute for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.
- Add the radishes and Brussel sprouts. Saute for about 10 minutes.
- When the vegetables are tender, add the cooked lentils and bacon and mix everything together.
- Thinly slice the kale and drizzle the oil (and lemon, if using) over it. Massage the oil into the kale with your hands.
- Top the kale with the radish and lentil mixture. Enjoy!
Notes
