A fresh and satisfying Indian Spinach Salad with black lentils, and roasted cauliflower tossed in a Tempered Seed Dressing. A delicious healthy salad with amazing flavor, depth and crunchy texture.
Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.~ Dalai Lama
This Indian Spinach Salad is bright and refreshing while also hitting my deep craving for wholesome and delicious. So flavorful with lots of texture and substance. The Tempered Seed Dressing is the key. So good!!! The caramelized shallots are the base creating more of a chutney consistency than a liquid dressing.
Full of toasty good flavor and crunch from tempering whole spices- cumin, coriander and mustard seeds. The black lentils give an earthy boost of protein taking the salad to entree status but also perfect to pair with your favorite Indian dish and warm naan.
The Indian Spinach Salad starts with a few simple ingredients.
Roast the Cauliflower
Cut cauliflower and radishes into bite-size pieces. Sprinkle with oil, salt and pepper. Roast in preheated oven at 450F for 15 minutes.
Make the tempered seed dressing
Cut shallots, grate ginger and measure out seeds.
Start with sautéing the shallots. Add in fresh ginger and salt. Push to the side of the pan. Temper the seeds in oil until they are toasted.
Mix shallot and seeds together adding tamarind paste and seasonings.
Assemble the Indian Spinach Salad
In your serving bowl, toss together spinach and cilantro with oil, a few shakes of salt and pepper, and a squeeze of about half of a lime.
Spoon the Tempered Seed Dressing on top of the greens. It is ok if it is still slightly warm wilting the spinach a bit. I find it best just a touch warmer than room temperature. Layer lentils, roasted cauliflower, and radishes, top with toasted pistachio nuts. Serve immediately.
Delicious pairings to serve with Indian Spinach Salad:
- Grilled Naan Bread with Indian Garlic Scape Chutney
- Indian Butter Chicken (vegan adaptable!)
- Lamb Meatballs with Indian Curry Sauce
- Indian Shepherds Pie
- Vegan Lentil Meatballs with Coconut Curry Sauce
Hope this gives you some fun cooking inspiration! Let us know what you think.
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Indian Spinach Salad
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: salad, vegan, main
- Method: roasted
- Cuisine: Indian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
A fresh and flavorful Indian Spinach Salad with black lentils, roasted cauliflower and roasted radishes. Caramelized shallots and a Tempered Seed Dressing give the salad amazing flavor, depth and crunchy texture. (Serves 2 as an entree salad or 4 as a side salad.)
Ingredients
- 2 cups cauliflower, broken or cut into bite-sized florets
- 1 bunch radishes, about 5 or 6, cut into quarters
- 3 tablespoons Avocado oil- divided
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 shallots, average-sized, cut in thin slices
- 1/2– 1 teaspoon grated ginger (depending on your love of ginger)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to taste!)
- 1 teaspoon tamarind paste (or sub more lime to taste)
- 5 oz baby spinach, about 4-5 cups
- 1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
- a squeeze of 1/2 a lime
- 1/2 cup cooked black lentils, room temp (or sub chickpeas or brown lentils) see notes
- garnish with 1/4 cup pistachios (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 450 F degrees. On a sheet pan drizzle a couple of teaspoons of avocado oil over radishes and cauliflower. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Slice shallot in strips, put in a sauté pan with 2 tablespoons of avocado oil, saute 5-8 minutes on medium heat until soft and lightly caramelized. Mix in fresh ginger and salt sautéing for another 30 seconds. Push mixture over to one side of the pan, add a tablespoon of avocado oil, when it just begins to shimmer add coriander, cumin and mustard seeds. Stir constantly for about 3 minutes until they start to brown just a bit. Remove from heat.
- Mix seeds and shallots with black pepper, cayenne and tamarind paste. Set aside.
- In your serving bowl, toss together spinach and cilantro with a teaspoon of avocado oil, a few shakes of salt and pepper and a squeeze of about half of a lime.
- Spoon the caramelized shallot dressing on top of the greens. It is ok if it is still slightly warm wilting the spinach a bit. I find it best just a touch warmer then room temperature. Layer on lentils, roasted cauliflower and radishes, top with toasted pistachios.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
To cook lentils; cover with water or broth in a saucepan adding salt to taste. (about a 1/4 cup dry will yield a healthy 1/2 cup). Simmer 20-25 minutes until tender but not mushy. Drain.
If you are going for an entree salad you can double the lentil amount. Serves 2 this way.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ½ cups
- Calories: 214
- Sugar: 4.2 g
- Sodium: 202.5 mg
- Fat: 14.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 16.8 g
- Fiber: 6.1 g
- Protein: 7 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Nice salad.
Added handful of pine nuts & handful of pumpkin seeds to cauliflower & radish in the bake .
Also added small onion to shallots .
Added baby tomatoes for colour to mix
Turned out quite yummy !
Nice Jules, glad you enjoyed!
I’m always looking for new, inspiring, vegan salads ~ This is it! Delish, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed this! Thanks Daniella!
Absolutely divine! This was so delicious and unique. Will definitely make again.
Great to hear Rachel; glad you gave this one a go!
This is really super tasty, even though I omitted the tamarind since I didn’t have it. I added a splash of red wine vinegar to help make up for it. I also used onions instead of shallots.
Glad you made it work for you!
Delicious!! Ever so slowly I’m converting my husband into enjoying lentils. Thanks to all your fab recipes!!
So glad you all enjoyed this one, it’s one of my favorites!
This was tasty, but I felt that the tamarind needed a little bit of sweetness to offset it. I added about half teaspoon to a teaspoon of maple syrup. I think it made it more tasty!
That sounds good Patty, glad you made it work for you!
Hi can I use olive oil instead of avocado oil?
yes!
We loved this salad!! I followed the recipe except I only had watermelon radishes that were a bit old. It didn’t matter they blended in really well . Visually this salad is so pretty. The dark green of the spinach, lightness of the cauliflower and little pockets of lentils makes you want to dive right in.. The taste of all the flavors together was sublime. Really savory. I was worried the spices would be overwhelming but they all fused together to make each bite just yum. Thanks for another great recipe.
I am so glad you enjoyed Trudy!
The flavor in this salad is off the charts! I had to do a little improv as I only had cumin seeds and ground spices but the combination of crisp char veggies with savory sweet jammy onions and spices was amazing.
So glad you liked it! I love it too.
Another great recipe, even for carnivores. Very tasty, will make it again. I especially loved the seed dressing. Will try to tweak roasting the radishes next time to make them more crunchy.
Thanks so much Helga! So happy you liked this!