Lentil Salad with Pear, Beet & Feta
Crumbly feta on soft beets, crisp pear against tender lentils, and olive oil holding it all together. You rinse, cube, toss, and eat. Five minutes and 572 calories with 15 grams of fiber from four different sources.
Two slices of whole wheat bread on the side round it into a full lunch.
Crumbly feta on soft beets, crisp pear against tender lentils, and olive oil holding it all together. You rinse, cube, toss, and eat. Five minutes and 572 calories with 15 grams of fiber from four different sources.
Two slices of whole wheat bread on the side round it into a full lunch.
Ingredients
- lentils, canned 0.5 cup
- pear 1
- beets, steamed 2
- mixed salad 1 handful
- feta cheese, crumbled 1 ounce
- olive oil 1.5 tablespoon
- bread, whole wheat 2 slices
Method
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Rinse the lentils in a colander with cold water and let them drain.
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Wash the pear and cut it into cubes. Cut the beets into cubes as well.
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In a bowl, mix the salad greens with the lentils, pear and beet. Sprinkle the feta over the salad and drizzle with oil. Season with pepper and salt.
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Serve the lentil salad in a bowl or deep plate with the (toasted) bread.
Drain the canned lentils for a full thirty seconds after rinsing. They hold more liquid than you'd expect, and in a salad dressed with nothing but olive oil, that moisture pools at the bottom and waters down everything.
Behind this recipe
Is 19g of protein enough for a meal?
It depends on what you are optimizing for. Research on per-meal protein thresholds puts 25–40g as the range most studies associate with maximizing muscle protein synthesis in a single sitting. At 19g, this meal sits below that window. That matters more during a training block than on a rest day. Adding a side of Greek yogurt or a handful of nuts closes some of that gap without changing the salad itself.
Read the full evidence reviewCan I make this the night before?
Yes, with two adjustments. Keep the pear cubes separate until you eat. They brown within hours once cut. And either add the beet cubes right before serving or store them in their own container, because beet juice stains the lentils, feta, and salad greens pink overnight. Toss everything together and drizzle the olive oil fresh.
Where does the 15g of fiber come from?
Four sources, each contributing a different type. Lentils provide the largest share, mostly soluble fiber. Pear adds pectin, another soluble fiber. Steamed beets contribute insoluble fiber from their cell walls. And the two slices of whole wheat bread bring wheat bran. The mix of soluble and insoluble fiber is what makes this number land from a single five-minute meal.
Read the full evidence review
