When it comes to easy, nourishing meals, nothing beats a one-tray recipe. This lentil and roasted vegetable salad is a perfect way to enjoy seasonal produce with minimal effort. Simply chop, roast, and toss everything together for a hearty, flavour-packed dish that works as a main or a side.
Roasting brings out the natural sweetness in butternut squash, parsnips, and beetroot, while lentils add plant-based protein and fibre to keep you feeling full and satisfied. The creamy blue cheese and crunchy pumpkin seeds take it to the next level, and a zesty dressing ties everything together beautifully.
This salad is perfect for meal prep, easy to customise, and a great way to get more vegetables in—without spending hours in the kitchen. Enjoy it warm or cold, as a light lunch or a side for your favourite meals.
Tips
- Roast all the vegetables evenly by cutting them into similar-sized cubes.
- The pumpkin seeds add crunch but feel free to use toasted walnuts or sunflower seeds instead.
- Let the roasted veggies cool a bit before adding to the salad bowl to keep your greens fresh and crisp.
- This salad stores well in the fridge: for up to 3 days — just keep the dressing separate until serving.
Swaps
Honey : you can swap for any sweetener of choice
Blue cheese: this type of cheese really balance and complement this dish with its salty and punchy flavour that contrast the sweetness of the ingredients, but if you like to swap it use any hard and mature cheese of your choice: cheddar and Parmesan cheese will also work nicely.
Lentils: you could swap for borlotti beans or chickpeas, slightly bigger in size compared to lentils but with a firm bite, perfect to go with this salad.
Make it vegan: If you want to make this dish vegan opt for a vegan cheese and swap honey for maple syrup.
Storage
To preserve all the nutrients and taste I would suggest to store in the fridge for 1-3 days max. Keep the salad and dressing separated until you are ready to serve.
More Salads Ideas
- Winter Salad
- Autumn Salad
- Roasted Carrots & Halloumi Salad
- One-Tray Lentil & Roasted Vegetable Salad
One-Tray Lentil & Roasted Vegetable Salad
Ingredients
- 1/2 butternut squash chopped into cubes
- 2 small onions chopped into cubes
- 1 can lentils 400g, drained
- 1 parsnip chopped into cubes
- 1 beetroot chopped into cubes
- drizzle of oil
- spices: 1 tsp garlic powder 1/4 salt, 1/4 pepper
- 50 g blue cheese crumbled
- handful pumpkin seeds
- greens mix of spinach, rocket and watercress
Dressing
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- juice of 1 small lemon
- 1 tbsp apple vinegar
- 1 tsp honey
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Add butternut squash, onions, parsnip, beetroot and lentils on a trays.
- Drizzle oil, spices and mix.
- Bake at 200C for 20mins.
- Let the vegetables cool down.
- Meantime prepare the dressing.
- In a large salad bowl add the salad, roasted vegetables, blue cheese and seeds. When you are ready to serve, pour the dressing and mix.