This Lemon Pesto Lentil Salad recipe is an excerpt from Jackie Akerberg’s book The Clean Vegan. Jackie is the creator of Jackfruitful Kitchen, a popular food blog and Instagram account. Jackie’s recipes have been featured in The Complete Guide to Plant-Based Food and dsm magazine. She lives in Des Moines, Iowa, with her husband.
Table of Contents
There is nothing better than fresh pesto: pesto flatbreads, pesto pasta, pesto-roasted veggies, you name it! So I thought, Why not turn my favorite sauce into a vibrant, lemony vinaigrette? I’m glad I did because this pesto is the best. It combines the garlicky, herby, umami flavor of pesto with the brightness of lemon juice and red wine vinegar for a perfectly balanced vinaigrette to top these tender lentils and veggies.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Salad
- Green lentils
- Lacinato kale
- Lemon
- Olive oil
- Olives
- Tomatoes
- Shallot
- Marcona almonds
- Parsley
Lemon Pesto Vinaigrette
- Basil leaves
- Parsley leaves
- Pine nuts
- Nutritional yeast
- Salt
- Black pepper
- White miso
- Garlic
- Lemon
- Red wine vinegar
- Maple syrup
How to Make This Lentil Salad
Step 1: Preparing the Lentils
To make the salad, fill a medium saucepan two-thirds full with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Add the lentils and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer the lentils for 12 to 15 minutes, until they are tender but not mushy. Drain the lentils and set them aside to cool completely.
Step 2: Preparing the Lemon Pesto Vinaigrette
Meanwhile, make the lemon pesto vinaigrette. In a blender, combine the basil, parsley, pine nuts, nutritional yeast, salt, black pepper, miso, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar and maple syrup. Taste the vinaigrette and season it with more salt and black pepper if needed. Set the vinaigrette aside.
Step 3: Assembling the Lentil Salad
To assemble the salad, combine the kale, lemon juice and oil in a large bowl. Massage the kale.. Add the lentils, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, shallot, almonds and parsley. Toss the ingredients with salad servers to combine them. Drizzle the salad with the lemon pesto vinaigrette and toss the salad again. Chill the salad in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes prior to serving it.
Lemon Pesto Lentil Salad – Recipe Card
Lemon Pesto Lentil Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 cup 192 g green lentils
- 1 large bunch lacinato kale stems removed, finely chopped
- Juice of 1 large lemon
- ½ tsp cold-pressed olive oil
- ½ cup 90 g pitted DIVINA® Frescatrano® or Castelvetrano olives, halved
- ¼ cup 14 g bagged unmarinated sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1 large shallot thinly sliced
- â…“ cup 48 g Marcona almonds, coarsely chopped if desired
- ½ cup 30 g finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Lemon Pesto Vinaigrette
- 1 cup 24 g loosely packed fresh basil leaves
- ¼ cup 15 g fresh parsley leaves
- ¼ cup 34 g pine nuts
- ¼ cup 44 g nutritional yeast
- ½ tsp salt plus more as needed
- ½ tsp black pepper plus more as needed
- 2 tbsp 34 g white miso
- 2 cloves garlic
- Juice of 1 medium lemon
- ¼ cup 60 ml red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp 15 ml pure maple syrup
Instructions
- To make the salad, fill a medium saucepan two-thirds full with water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Add the lentils and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer the lentils for 12 to 15 minutes, until they are tender but not mushy. Drain the lentils and set them aside to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, make the lemon pesto vinaigrette. In a blender, combine the basil, parsley, pine nuts, nutritional yeast, salt, black pepper, miso, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar and maple syrup. Taste the vinaigrette and season it with more salt and black pepper if needed. Set the vinaigrette aside.
- To assemble the salad, combine the kale, lemon juice and oil in a large bowl. Massage the kale.. Add the lentils, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, shallot, almonds and parsley. Toss the ingredients with salad servers to combine them. Drizzle the salad with the lemon pesto vinaigrette and toss the salad again. Chill the salad in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes prior to serving it
Reprinted with permission from The Clean Vegan Cookbook by Jackie Akerberg. Page Street Publishing Co. 2023. Photo credit: Jackie Akerberg.
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About The Cookbook
Eating plant-based has never been more nourishing or satisfying! From Jackie Akerberg, creator of the popular food blog Jackfruitful Kitchen, comes a mouthwatering collection of inspiring, whole-food recipes that go way beyond your typical salad and are completely free from processed ingredients. By cutting the junk and focusing on wholesome, plant-based meals, you’ll reap all of the health benefits that the vegan diet has to offer: improved digestion, clearer skin and higher energy, just to name a few! With this cookbook, it’s easier than ever to eat 100% clean and 100% vegan (not to mention 100% gluten-free!) throughout the day, as Jackie has you covered with delicious dishes from breakfast through dessert, like:
- Best Ever Veggie Burgers
- Bang-Bang Baja “Shrimp” Tacos
- Super Greens Goddess Pasta
- Get Up and Go Super Seed Bread
- Curried Red Lentil Coconut Soup
- Power-Packed Blueberry Pancakes
- Apple Pie Cheesecake Bites
- And so many more!
Every single recipe has been carefully crafted from wholesome ingredients to provide maximum flavor and a clean eating experience like no other. So what are you waiting for? Kiss processed meals goodbye and say hello to all that a whole-food vegan diet can do for you. You’ll be eating healthier than ever and feeling like the very best version of yourself in no time!
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More Vegan Recipes You Might Like
If you Enjoyed This Lentil Salad Recipe, You Might Also Like This Chickpea Salad by the same author. Click here to get the recipe.
Connect with Jackie on Instagram and at jackfruitful.com.
Do you have the nutritional content?
Hi Juliette! We don’t currently include nutritional info with the recipes, but might add that in the future! In the meantime, you can easily calculate it via a site like cronometer.com 🙂