How to beat the May Gray (or June Gloom for that matter)? Cook up a warm salad of lentils, bacon and toasted walnuts with ingredients from your local Trader Joe’s. The fog is lifting already…

Warm Salad of Lentils and Walnuts

2 cups T.J.s prepared lentils

¼ cup sherry vinegar

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

¼ cup olive oil

3 Tbsp walnut oil

Salt and pepper

1 cup chopped walnuts

¼ lb bacon, cut into ½” dice

½ cup slice green onions

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 350F. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, olive oil, 2 Tbsp walnut oil and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

In another bowl, toss the walnuts and the remaining 1 Tbsp walnut oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread nuts on a baking sheet and bake until lightly golden and hot, 5-8 minutes. Set aside.

In a large frying pan over medium heat, fry the bacon until light golden, about 8 minutes. Turn off the heat and, while the pan is still warm, add the lentils, dressing, walnuts and green onions to the bacon and drippings. Toss to mix. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with parsley. Serves 6.

Jill Fisher, a good friend of mine going waaayyyyy back to high school, has a B.S. in Food Science and Nutrition and is a licensed Personal Chef. She teaches cooking classes at Conejo Valley Adult School and Williams Sonoma in Thousand Oaks. Jill has also written articles for local food magazines such as 805 Living.  To contact Jill, let us know!