I’ve been playing around with macro meals, mostly breakfast, since taking the 3-day cooking intensive with Christina Pirello. I’m also trying to find a way to enjoy my beans and greens in a more “refreshing way” in the summer.
Enter my Macro Veggie & Lentil salad.
What makes it “macro”?
I used lentils (carbohydrates) onion, carrot and daikon (land vegetables–and daikon radish is a root vegetable that helps break down fat), shoyu sauce (contains living enzymes), umeboshi paste (pickled/fermented which has an alkalizing effect on the digestive system). I did a quick parboil of the veggies (shorter and lighter cooking for summer foods) and served them with raw vegetables and herbs.
Curious about a macrobiotic diet? I highly encourage you to checkout Christina Cooks (her cookbooks are excellent primers on the macrobiotic diet). Macrobiotic Basics is another great resource.
The Assembly
I started by tossing a cup of brown lentils into the rice cooker with 2 cups of water, a few pieces of dried shitake mushrooms, one bay leaf and a sprig of fresh thyme. I set the rice cooker to the regular setting (lentils cook up in 30 – 40 minutes).
While the lentils were cooking I started the quick process of parboiling vegetables. In a large sauce pan I brought about a cup of filtered water to a boil (with a pinch of salt) and cooked the following separately, for two minutes each: vidalia onion slices, finely diced yellow carrots and thinly sliced daikon. I removed each vegetable after two minutes, with a slotted spoon, and transferred to a bowl. With the veggies cooling in the bowl. I splashed in a little shoyu sauce and set aside. When the lentils finished cooking I also set them aside to cool (at this point I jumped into the shower to get ready for work).
After everything cooled I first tossed the veggies in umeboshi paste and the juice of about half a lemon. I stirred in half cup of the cooked lentils and then spooned the veggie and lentil mix onto a bed of red russian kale and chopped basil, thyme and parsley (all from my bistro garden).
I loved, loved, loved this salad.
JL’s Macro Veggie & Lentil Salad (PRINTABLE RECIPE)
Serving size? Depends on how much you make of everything. This recipe is not about precision, it’s about intuition and making the amount that is right for one person, or several.
Ingredients
For the Lentils
- 1 cup lentils
- 2 cups filtered water
- Dried Shitaki mushroom pieces
- Sprig of fresh thyme
- Salt, to taste
For the Veggies
- About a cup of water
- Pinch of sea salt
- Vidalia onion (sliced)
- Yellow carrots (finely diced)
- Daikon radish (thinly sliced)
- Shoyu sauce
- Umeboshi paste
- Juice of half a lemon
For the Salad
- Red Russian kale, torn into pieces
- Fresh herbs (thyme, basil and parsley)
Instructions
For the Lentils
- Add all ingredients, except salt, to the rice cooker. On the “regular” setting, cook for 30 – 40 minutes. Stir and add salt to taste. Set aside to cool.
For the Veggies
- Bring filtered water and salt to a boil. Add onion, cook for 2 minutes, remove and transfer to a bowl. Add carrots, cook for 2 minutes, remove and add to onion. Add daikon radish, cook for 2 minutes, and add to the other vegetables. Splash the veggies with Shoyu sauce and let cool.
Bringing it together
- Once the vegetables have cooled to room temperature, toss with umeboshi paste and lemon juice. Add half a cup of cooked lentils and toss. Serve over the bed of kale and fresh herbs.
Enjoy!
16 thoughts on “My Macro Veggie & Lentil Salad”
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I was just looking at the umeboshi paste in WF last night wondering what I could do with it. Wish I’d gotten it now – this sounds wonderful! Next time… 🙂
I actually had it before taking the macro class! I’ve used it in salad dressings, when making sushi and in marinades for tofu. Very versatile!
Forgive me, I have the pressure cooker on the brain… You used a rice cooker for the lentils vs. a pressure cooker. Any particular reason why?
I have been hunting for umeboshi paste for a while now. No luck yet 🙁
It’s a great question, I’m a proponent of both! (I’m an equal opportunity make-beans-quick-and-easy gal) LOL
In this case it was because I wanted to multitask (get ready for work while preparing my lunch) The pressure cooker requires more attention than the rice cooker. I make my heartier, tougher beans and grains, as well as soups and stews, in the pressure cooker and make lighter items (lentils, quinoa) and porridge in the rice cooker.
Very interesting and this salad sounds delicious, I need to try it. Thanks for the recipe!
wow this looks so delicious! i love how you said it is about intuition rather then precision. i feel like many of my meals are like that 🙂
Kalli — before blogging I think I did toss things together and suddenly I felt obligated to record measurements because, understandably, people want to know. Christina Pirello challenged us to not worry about how many cups or teaspoons and instead make what we want and like. So I’m trying to encourage a little of that here, too 🙂
hmmm sounds good JL! I hope you have a great holiday!
JL, the salad looks delicious! I love Christina! I’ve been watching her on our local PBS for years. She has quite an amazing story. Just finished her book, This Crazy Vegan Life a month or so ago. Really insightful. I keep saying I’m going to take one of her classes but I never get around to it. I should work harder on that! Thanks for the recipe!
Fran, her class is phenomenal! I highly encourage it!
Great recipe! I’m a big fan of Christina’s work 🙂
Wow, looks great JL, super healthy! Anytime I have lentils and kale in one meal I feel like a nutritional rock star. 🙂 I do have some dried shitake mushrooms as there is a vendor who sells them at my local farmer’s market. I haven’t tried umeboshi paste, but I do love the ume vinegar.
I’m loving the ume vinegar, too!
i am hoping to buy umeboshi paste at WFs?
Yep, you should be able to find it in the Asia food section!