If I could I would probably eat pasta salad nearly every day of the summer. But alas, all those wasted carbs and lack of nutrition. Last year I was diagnosed with diverticulitis so for me a high fiber diet is extremely important.

In my quest to increase my fiber intake, which frankly was already pretty high, I have started cooking with lentils more often. Probably not as much as I should. That is why I decided to come up with this salad. It has most things I would put in a pasta salad, but the lentils are a much better source of fiber and protein than pasta. I went to our garden and picked some carrots for the salad. We have orange, yellow and purple carrots. For those of you with kids, they love color variety, at least mine do!

A rainbow full of veggies, plus fiber and protein. This really is a fabulous side dish. The lemon zest gives it a great flavor, my kids love anything with lemon. Plus you just can’t go wrong with goat cheese (though for this dish if you plan on leftovers put the cheese on individual servings or use feta, the goat cheese with blend in once left to sit in the fridge). It is extremely versatile, use whatever veggies you like or have in the house, pick your favorite herb, make it your way! I hope you enjoy as much as we all did.

Lentil Salad with Goat Cheese
1 1/2 c. dried lentils, I used a tri-color blend
Water
2 c. diced veggies, I used carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes
1/4 c. julienned mint
2 lemons, juice and zest
2 Tbs. olive oil
4 oz. goat cheese crumbled

Place the lentils in a saucepan and cover with water reaching about two inches over the lentils. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer about 25 minutes. *Cooking time may vary depending on variety of lentils used so follow your package instructions. Drain the cooked lentils and allow to cool slightly.

Pour the lentils into a bowl. Add the veggies, mint, lemon zest and juice and the olive oil. Stir well. Put in the fridge to cool. Place cheese on top and gently stir before serving. Serve cold.

Yields 6 servings