Yes, it’s another lentil salad. And as it happens, there are already a few on Coconut and Berries (Butternut & Lentil Salad with Tahini Dressing, Quick & Easy Lentil Yogurt Salad, Moroccan Puy Lentil Salad with Carrots & Mint….) But in my opinion, there’s always room for another one, especially when it’s this good! I hope you feel the same way.
This lentil salad really is all the good things in one bowl! So I’ve just declared my lentil love, but sweet potatoes and olives are other favourites to use in my cooking and it turns out that they’re utterly wonderful together.
I tend to combine sweet potatoes with warm spices to bring out their sweetness but this time I went for contrasting flavours and paired them with salty marinated olives. The earthy lentils carry the strong flavours really well (I acually find olives a bit much on their own but I really enjoy them in things).
It’s all very simple to put together. Sweet potatoes roast pretty fast and lentils cook up pretty quickly. The salad is lovely warm too so it’s only a quick assembling job and you’re ready to dig in.
As always, I recommend Puy lentils for salads as they hold their shape better than other kinds, but I went to make this salad and realized I was out so I had to use regular green lentils here. If you use green, just make sure not to overcook them as they can quickly turn to mush!
Ingredients
- 2 Medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (into approx 1" pieces)
- 3 Tbsp Olive oil, divided
- 1 Medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 Cloves of garlic, minced
- 1-1/2 C Puy OR Green lentils
- Few sprigs of fresh thyme OR 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 3 C Water
- 3 Tbsp Red wine vinegar
- Heaping 1/2 C Marinated olives
- 2 Tbsp Chopped parsley
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Toss the diced sweet potato in 1-1/2 Tbsp oil and a sprinkle of salt and spread on a baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes, Stir, then roast another 10 minutes until golden brown and soft.
- Meanwhile, sauté the onions in 1/2 Tbsp oil over medium heat for 5-8 minutes, add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the lentils, thyme and water. Bring to a boil then simmer, covered for 20-25 minutes (or 15-20 if using green lentils).
- Drain any remaining water and pour into a large bowl. Add the red wine vinegar, remaining Tbsp oil (+ more if you like), parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Toss well. Add the roasted sweet potato and toss again gently to combine. Scatter with the olives and serve.
P.S. I ve just submitted my dissertation so hopefully I’ll be able to get back to my regular blogging schedule! Sorry it’s been a bit quiet lately.
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This sounds delicious Emma! It’s only in the last couple of years that I have started to eat olives. I’ve never been too keen but now I just LOVE them to bits - straight from the tub! This is a perfect salad for Autumn, though it’s been surprisingly warm the last week or so!
Really healthy and delicious! Another great recipe, I love your blog
Aw, thank you so much. Really happy you’re enjoying my recipes.
Love lentil salad - there can never be enough recipes
thanks for the tip about lentils I had no idea what they were called!
Yes, Puy all the way! Definitely my favourite kind. Glad to hear of other lentil fans 😉
Your description here is perfect- “all the good things in one bowl”. Sweet potato, olives, lentils…sounds perfect!
Glad you’re on board with the flavour combination Gabby! I loved it.
that looks so good and I really want to try some - I don’t think you can have too many lentil salads - one of my favourites is a lentil and pea salad. I don’t often pair sweet potato and olives but it seems such an obvious and great pairing - definitely bookmarking
Lentil and pea sounds lovely too. Hope you get to try this one. I was pretty smitten with it!
I see an opportunity to use up my fresh thyme 😉 Looks like my kind of salad. Now that it’s getting chillier up here in Scotland I crave nutty, chewy salads with lentils and grains - and roasted sweet potato is always a bonus, of course!
Ah yes, your herb pots! You should add a few sprigs to a tray of roasted vegetables too. Adds a lovely flavour.
It’s still pretty warm down here but I’m ready for autumnal meals anyway!
Oh Emma! You must have hopped into my brain on this one. Seriously, you just combined 3 of my favorite ingredients, but 2 of them I just LOVE! I love lentils, but sweet potatoes and olives are like a drug for me, they are simply delicious. Mouthwatering recipe! Have to try this! Geez, so many recipes and not enough time, haha! You know me and I love that your recipes are simple and not too many ingredients, which is why I like them! ❤️
I’m so glad there are other people out there who feel the same way as me. I know a lot of people are into sweet potatoes but I wasn’t so sure about olives. Thank you for such a sweet comment. I do try and keep things fairly simple
I want my readers to see that eating vegan can be delicious and healthy without being complicated.
i love the whole olives in this salad. it look extraordinarily delicious.
Extraordinarily delicious it is. Those olives were pretty sensational. I’m glad I used the good kind 😉
This looks amazing! I have to bookmark for later
xx Bianca
http://thefriendlyfig.com/
Thanks Bianca. Hope you do get to try it. If you do, please let me know what you think!
I love this olive twist! Like you, I tend to use warmer spices with sweet potatoes, and also lentils, so had never thought of this twist. I’m not a big fan of olives plain but can imagine them working really well in this mix
Thank you Kari. You sound like me on the olive front. They’re usually just too strong straight up but the other flavours here mellow them just enough for me.
You can never have enough lentil salads in the salad repertoire! I love the look of this salad and cannot wait to try it. Sweet potatoes + lentils + olives?! So many of my fav. things in one dish! Pinned!
So glad you’re with me on the flavours here! I wasn’t sure how many of my readers were into olives but I’m happy to hear of other fans 😀
Looks gorgeous! Strangely enough despite doing a lot with lentils salads is one thing I’ve not much experience with - nor Puy lentils neither, possibly for that very reason! Got a tonne of sweet potatoes that need using up and I’m very into salads at the moment, so it may be time to try something new:)
Ah well hopefully I can get you into both lentil salads and Puy lentils!
Do let me know if you try this one out.
Yum, three of my favourite foods- perfect combination!
Anything with olives in immediately calls my name! I’m becoming a bit of a convert to the sweet potato and squash family, so I’m always hunting out new ways to get them into meals!
I haven’t had any squash yet this September but am really keen to now! Getting in the autumn mood!
They really do! And the olives added some punchy flavour too.
Hi there,
I like your recipes lot, the warm lentils are a great idea!
There’s one thing I’d like to mention concerning advertising on your page.
I’m currently using a smartphone to read this recipe, but the ads cover roughly a third of the screen, which makes it quite hard to read. Maybe you could find a better solution concerning ads…
Hi Oliver, thanks for your feedback. You should see a little cross in the top right hand corner of any ads which you can click to close them. Hope that helps!
So happy I found your site! This is the first recipe I’ve tried and it was really delicious. Can’t wait to try more!
So pleased to hear that Alastriona (what a gorgeous name too!)! Thanks for reporting back and do let me know how you like any other recipes you try.
I’d love to make this recipe but my husband don’t like olives. Would it still taste good without them? Do you think maybe using some capers in place of the olives might work. I know capers have a salty taste to them like olives do.