green (super)power salad

the BEST salad-for-dinner kinda salad

Happy Friday friends – 

It’s been the absolute dreariest, coldest, wettest, grossest week... I’ve honestly kind of forgotten what the sun looks/feels like?! It’s too wet to do anything outside, so we’ve kept busy cleaning out + organizing our disaster of a barn.

I’m not sure how it happens, but every winter we give the barn a deep clean, and then every season *without fail* it sloooowly cascades back into chaos. At this point, I’ve given up any expectation that the barn will stay perfectly clean and organized all year (once the growing season gets rolling, it’s the lowest thing on our priority list), BUT I am determined to maintain a semblance of order this year.

I know the key is having a clear labeling system, so this week I brought out the big guns… aka my handy dandy LAMINATOR. I know I’m such a dork, but this thing is the BEST.

I’m slightly mortified to even be showing y’all the “before” pic of the barn, but for better or worse I’m all about full transparency, so here are a few before / afters:

Befores on the left, afters on the right :)

Thankfully, the week ahead has clear skies and balmy 60 degree days in the forecast, so fingers crossed we can actually get in the dirt. Our big project next week is pruning + trellising our blackberry patch, so stay tuned for more riveting farm content coming to a newsletter near you. :)

I love salad for dinner.

I’m not talking about some wimpy, boring, wilted salad. Nooo ma’am. I’m talking a big, beefy, hearty, crunchy, herby, punchy salad that is a complete meal in a single bowl.

And if we’re talking about my all time favorite salad-for-dinner, it’s gotta be my Green Power Salad. The hearty base is made of lentils – french green lentils, to be specific. And while this salad is *very* forgiving and adaptable, I’m gonna put my foot down and insist that you use french green lentils (sometimes called Lentils de Puy). Any other kind of lentil (brown, red, etc) is going to be too mushy and just… blah. Not all grocery stores carry french green lentils, but you can easily source them online (like here).

But if lentils really just aren’t your *vibe* you can easily swap them for another grain –quinoa, brown rice, or farro would all do the trick. Along with your grain of choice, this salad’s got creamy avocados, tart green apples, crunchy pumpkin seeds, herbaceous parsley, and a zippy lemon dijon vinaigrette. And it holds great in the fridge for days of leftovers (if it lasts that long). What more could you want?

See below for the full recipe, and you’ll also find a one-page PDF version for easy printing. If you make this recipe, let me know how it goes + share some pics / tag me on insta! A note that this recipe was first inspired by a similar one from Sprouted Kitchen.

Green Power Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette

Serves 4-6