This beautifully seasonal Warm Potato Asparagus Salad with Lentils is substantial enough as a main meal & easily adaptable to suit meat eaters as well as vegetarians & vegans. Dressed with deliciously tangy mustard dressing it is filling and delicious!
Warm Potato Asparagus Salad with Lentils - wholesome, seasonal fare!
Late spring and warmer weather makes us crave slightly lighter fare which doesn't mean that you need to turn into a rabbit per se. I find myself making lots of substantial and filling salads using seasonal veggies at their best and bulking them out with delicious and protein packed lentils and (if you are a meat eater) some meaty or fishy additions too!
New season potatoes (I used delicious and buttery Jersey Royals) and asparagus are two main stars of this salad. Oh, and let's not forget the dressing, delicious and tangy mustard dressing which, when poured over warm potatoes, sinks into them flooding them in added flavour.
It's a proper main meal kind of salad, one that will fill you up but won't weigh you down. Something to nourish yourself with!
How to serve and adapt Warm Potato Asparagus Salad to different diets?
This salad is extremely easy to adapt and can cater for different diets without too much hassle at all.
Meat Eaters version (pictured here) includes smoked pancetta pieces pan fried together with chopped red onion at the start. Feel free to swap it for streaky bacon or even chunks of ham or parma ham. You could even top this lovely salad with grilled chicken breast, salmon fillet or some prawns for even more substantial fare. Other possible toppings include poached or fried egg, grilled or pan fried halloumi or chunks of feta cheese. So many delicious choices!
If you are catering for both meat eaters and veggies, make your life easier by pan frying your pancetta separately as opposed to together with the onion and serve it on the side ready to be sprinkled over individual portions.
Vegetarians - If you are a vegetarian who eats eggs than topping your lovely salad with either poached or pan fried egg with runny yolk would be a delicious way of serving it. Chunks of marinated tofu, grilled halloumi or chunks of feta cheese would be other options.
Vegans - Try topping your salad with marinated firm tofu chunks, slices of avocado or falafels. Try my Easy Chickpeas & Carrot Falafel Burgers which you can easily make into meatballs and enjoy with this salad.
Whatever option you go for, a chunky slice of delicious sourdough bread or homemade croutons will never go amis in my honest opinion! You can also add some cherry or plum tomatoes for extra goodness as well as a bit of colour. My homemade roasted pumpkin seeds go really well here too. I like to serve my portion on the bed of mixed salad leaves. Soo good!
Few tips!
This delicious salad is best served immediately when still warm. However if you find yourself with any leftovers simply store them in the fridge until the following day when you can eat your salad cold for lunch! I would suggest making some extra dressing for that as warm potatoes would have soaked up all the lovely dressing the day before and cold salad might be a bit dry.
Make your dressing using exactly same proportions as you did originally if you want to have some spare for other salads or use the portion adjusting function in recipe card below to see how much of each ingredient you need. Super simple! If you've got extra dressing it will keep in a jar in the fridge for up to a week. Simply give it a shake or two before serving.
If you don't fancy making extra dressing, simply drizzle your salad with one you might already have on hand or squeeze of lemon juice could be enough too! Taste and decide!
How to make Warm Potato Asparagus Salad - Step-By-Step!
📋 Recipe
Warm Potato Asparagus Salad with Lentils
Ingredients
Salad
- 500-750 g salad/baby/new potatoes scrubbed and left unpeeled; small potatoes left whole and larger ones halved
- 500 g asparagus woody ends trimmed
- 1 red onion peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tin (400g/15.5oz) green or puy lentils in water drained & rinsed
- 90 g diced smoked pancetta or bacon lardons optional
- 1 tablespoon rapeseed or olive oil
- Juice of half a lemon + a bit extra to squeeze over the salad at the end
- 2 tablespoon chopped dill or parsley as garnish
Dressing
- 2 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
- 1 tablespoon Dijon or English mustard
- 3 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put potatoes in a large pan of salted water, bring to boil and cook until tender but still holding their shape and not falling appart. You might need to check on them few times by piercing them with a knife to check whether it will go in easily. Once they're done drain them and set aside.
- Whilst your potatoes are cooking prepare asparagus by snapping off the woody ends. You can either steam or briefly boil your asparagus until just tender. Cut each cooked asparagus spear into three pieces, sprinkling them with lemon juice and setting aside. Keep asparagus tips separately from the stalks.
- Heat up tablespoon of oil in a pan and fry chopped onion and pancetta (if using) until onion is softened and translucent and bacon is starting to get crispy.
- Prepare your dressing by putting all the ingredients in a small jar and shaking it vigorously to mix. Season to taste with salt and pepper and shake some more.
- Add lentils to the pan with onion and bacon and mix well. Keep the pan warm for a couple fo minutes to allow for the lentils to warm through.
- Add cooked potatoes and follow with the dressing.
- Add cooked asparagus stalks and mix them in.
- Arrange the asparagus tips on top of the salad, sprinkle generously with chopped dill or parsely and extra squeeze of lemon juice.
- Serve immediately, still warm on a bed of mixed salad leaves with some delicious crusty bread.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Nutritional information is approximate, per one serving (including dressing) and should be treated as a guideline only.
- For ingredients alternatives see above - HOW TO SERVE AND ADAPT WARM POTATO ASPARAGUS SALAD TO DIFFERENT DIETS?
- This potato asparagus salad is best served immediately when still warm but any leftovers can be stored in the fridge and served cold the following day. When serving the salad cold you might have to make more dressing to go over as potatoes would have soaked up all the dressing the day before and salad might be a bit dry.
Nutrition
SOME MORE ASPARAGUS & SALAD RECIPES YOU MIGHT ENJOY
Spring Pea and Asparagus Risotto (Vegan)
Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto with Asparagus
Asparagus Puff Pastry Twists with Parma Ham & Pesto
Buckwheat & Beetroot Salad with Chickpeas
Russian Salad or Olivier Salad (Vegan)
MAKE SURE YOU STAY UP TO DATE WITH ALL THE LATEST RECIPES FROM JO’S KITCHEN LARDER
Have you tried my Warm Potato Asparagus Salad with Lentils? Leave a comment at the bottom of this post, I love reading them!
You can also come and say hello over on my Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest
PIN WARM POTATO ASPARAGUS SALAD WITH LENTILS FOR LATER!
LINKIES:
Cook Blog Share hosted by Easy Peasy Foodie
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie says
What a wonderful, healthy seasonal salad! I am so into food like this at the moment 😀 Thanks for linking this up to #CookBlogShare. Eb x
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Eb! Same here! 🙂 x
Jacqui Bellefontaine says
Love the look and sound of this salad. Perfect meal for this nicer weather we are finally having
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you so much Jacqui! 🙂 Perfect, lighter but still filling salad, my favourite kind! 🙂