Hi, it’s Meghan here, your go-to source for all meals rice-related. Chicken and rice. Lentils and rice. Beans and rice. We do it all! Personally, I am a fan of most grains, but David is fully and monogamously committed to team rice. He grew up on rice everyday, so while I have gradually weaned him off of this habit, if a full week goes by without it, he starts asking questions. There are so many things you can do with this humble ingredient, we never get bored of it. You can easily substitute brown rice if you prefer, but there are enough other hearty ingredients in here to add substance without it.

I thought I might be going back to work this week, and planned on bringing along this salad, another desk lunch winner. As it turns out, I am still here at home, but at least I had a yummy midday meal to look forward to. This type of salad is exactly what I want for lunch on a hot, busy day. With just a small time investment at the beginning of the week, I had a filling, protein and veggie packed giant bowl of food that was easily divided into single portion sizes to last the next several days. And it’s cold! As David pointed out, these same qualities make it perfect picnic food as well, something to keep in mind once the temperature lowers beyond sauna levels again.

When serving it for lunch, this recipe will yield about 6 servings. If you choose to make it for dinner instead, you’ll get 4 solid portions. I adapted it slightly from another Rick Bayless recipe, modifying the dressing and nixing the blender usage. I also just mix everything together in a giant bowl, instead of serving the rice over the greens. This way it all gets an even coating of dressing, and the spinach doesn’t get left behind as an afterthought.

Lentil & Rice Salad with Chipotle-Lime Dressing

Recipe by Too Many SpoonsCourse: LunchCuisine: Rice

Servings

6

servings

Cost

16

$

Total time

35

minutes

This comes together pretty quickly. You should have just enough time to chop the vegetables and mix the dressing while the water boils and the rice cooks. I’ve built in 10 minutes of cooling time to the total, but you might need more. Just know that the actual cooking time is quite short.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup brown or green lentils, rinsed

• 2/3 cup white rice, rinsed

• 1 red bell pepper

• 1 cucumber, seeds removed

• 6 oz ham steak

• 1 small red onion

• 5 oz baby spinach

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil

• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice, from 2 limes

• 2 chipotle peppers en adobo, seeded and very finely chopped, plus 1 tsp chipotle canning sauce

• 1 tsp oregano

• 1 tsp sea salt, plus more to taste

Directions

• Bring 8 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan, seasoned with a generous sprinkle of salt. Once it starts boiling, add the lentils and rice. Keep at a steady simmer for 15 minutes, until tender, then drain well.
• While the lentils and rice are cooking, you can prepare the rest of the salad components. Dice the red bell pepper, cucumber, and ham steak into 1/2 inch pieces, and keep aside in a small bowl.
• Thinly slice the red onion, then rough chop the slices, and place in a large bowl.
• Roughly chop the spinach.
• To make the dressing, in a small bowl or pitcher whisk the oils, lime juice, chipotle peppers and canning sauce, oregano, and sea salt.
• After draining the rice and lentil mixture, scoop it into the bowl with the red onion, add 1/4 cup dressing, and mix it all together until the rice is lightly coated. Let this cool for at least 10 minutes. You don’t want the spinach to wilt when you add it later. You can mix the rice steadily, or place it in the fridge to help it along.
• Once cool, add the pepper, cucumber, ham, and spinach to the bowl with the rice, and toss it all together. To serve, spoon the salad into bowls, with the extra dressing on the side to drizzle on at your preference.

Recipe Notes

• Adapted from “Mexican Everyday” by Rick Bayless