Restaurant Review: Le Pain Quotidien (Claremont, CA) - Organic French Lentil Salad

Organic French Lentil Salad - french lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes, red radish, cucumbers, carrots, and avocado on top of arugula sprinkled with flaxseeds.  

Sticking to lighter salads for summertime, I visited Le Pain Quotidien in Claremont, CA and ordered their Organic French Lentil Salad.  This salad was amazing and a great summer treat.  I think it may be a summer special and is only served at some Le Pain Quotidiens so it may not be available near you.  However here's a recipe that you can try to replicate it at home.  I have yet to try it but sounds like it would come out pretty darn close to tasting like the one they serve.  I added some ingredients to it to make it a little more macro friendly ;)

Macro French Lentil Salad

Eden makes a great raw unpasteurized one.

1. Cook 1/4-1/2 cup of green lentils a sprig of thyme and some diced onions.  To make it more macro be sure to cook it with 1 inch piece of kombu.  Stir in some presoaked hijiki towards the end of cooking.  Be sure to not overcook the lentils, it should be easily separable not mushy.  If you like you can add 1/4 cup of cooked chickpeas to your salad as well.
2. Slice 1/4 cup each of carrots, radish, and cucumber.  Mix on top of a bed of arugula.  Scoop cooked on lentils and top with 1/2 sliced avocado.
3. For the vinaigrette, mix red wine vinegar, with lemon juice, dijon mustard, olive oil, minced shallots, pepper, chopped parsley, and pesto.  Add a dash of shoyu and ume vinegar for more macro dressing.  Pour on top of salad and enjoy :)