This is one of those easy salads that look and taste more complicated than they are - always favorite dishes of mine. It is also highly adaptable: use any root vegetables you have on hand, substitute chickpeas if you don't like lentils, etc. Last but not least, the pumpkin oil is not essential so don't go out and buy some just for this recipe but I do recommend it. Its nutty bitterness works really well with pulses and root vegetables, not to mention mustard.
6 cups assorted root vegetables. peeled and cut into bite sized pieces. I used daikon, parsnips, beets and turnips and cut them into different shapes, daikon into coins, parsnips into batons, etc, to make the salad more interesting texturally.
1 white onion, peeled and cut into 8 pieces
1 cup lentils
2 cups mesclun or assorted baby leaves
2 Tbsps grain mustard
3 Tbsps red wine vinegar
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup pumpkin oil (if not using, add 1/4 cup vegetable oil to your recipe instead)
Salt
Preheat the oven to 400.
Place the root vegetables and the onion pieces on a lined baking tray. Drizzle with the tablespoon of vegetable oil and salt well. Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring half way through, until the vegetables are tender and the onion lightly charred in places.
While the root vegetables are roasting, cook the lentils. Do not use red lentils as these get mushy within minutes. Cover the cup of lentils with 3 cups of water and cook over medium heat until the lentils are tender but not mushy. This is a hard one to recommend timing for as it very much depends on the age of the lentils. I tend to check at 15 minutes with the expectation that the lentils will need another 5 minutes or so.
As soon as the lentils are cooked, drain them and pour over half of the vinaigrette which you will have made while they are cooking. Reserve the other half for finishing. Make the vinaigrette by combining the oils, the mustard and the vinegar and whisking to emulsify.
As soon as the root vegetables are cooked to your satisfaction, tip them into a large salad bowl along with the lentils. Toss well. Then add your salad leaves and toss again.