Place the lentils in a medium saucepan and cover with 3-4 inches of water. Add the pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Simmer until lentils are just tender–you don’t want to overcook them! About 13-15 minutes is good. Once cooked, drain and set aside to cool slightly.
Make the dressing. In a medium bowl, combine the cumin, coriander, chilies, and black pepper. In a small skillet, heat the avocado oil until it’s just starting to get hot. Then, pour the oil over the spices in the bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes or so before whisking in the lemon zest, lemon juice, maple syrup, Worcestershire, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the cooked lentils, thawed edamame, red onion, parsley, salt, and pepper. Pour over the dressing and toss to combine. Serve with toasted almonds on top (plus extra parsley and lemon zest if you like) and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
You can substitute French, brown or black beluga lentils here. All will have slightly different cooking times, so just double check the package before proceeding here and adjust as necessary!
If you cannot find frozen shelled edamame, look for mukimame. It is the same thing, just marketed under a different name in some stores.
You can use toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds instead of toasted almonds to make this salad nut-free.
Worcestershire sauce contains wheat. Substitute Tamari to keep this gluten-free.
The hot oil blooming technique is what makes this dressing. Avocado oil is heated until just warm, then poured directly over cumin, coriander, and chili to wake up the spices before the lemon and maple go in. Green lentils, edamame, red onion, parsley, and toasted almonds round it all out. Ready in 20 minutes and great for meal prep all week.