Butternut Squash and Lentil Salad
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I had originally made this Asian inspired salad dressing for a chicken salad, but the black lentils I had soaked the night before were calling out to be used instead. What happened next was a delicious and healthy Cold Lentil Salad with Butternut Squash and Asparagus that’s easy enough to be called a meal.
This salad is filled with good things like fresh Spring asparagus, cubed butternut squash that gets pan seared with Chinese Five Spice powder, Tabasco infused black lentils, almonds and arugula greens. I love black lentils, sometimes called beluga lentils because they resemble caviar and are round and hold their shape during cooking, unlike other lentils that break down and tend to become mushy. This makes them perfect for pilafs and salads like this one.
Good, healthy and filling stuff, but feel free to add chicken or whatever meat protein you want if you like. We have this one both ways!
Now, about those Tabasco infused lentils. I haven’t shared with you my latest trip down to Avery Island, home to Tabasco…
Two weeks ago I was lucky enough to be asked to attend the Tabasco Tastemakers event on Avery Island in Louisiana. What a thrill to be going to such an iconic brand’s production facilities and the grounds where the original red pepper sauce was first made. I attended the event with 9 other food bloggers and was excited to meet some of them that I knew and make some new friends along the way.
There was so much planned for us from an Avery Island Tour that included a visit to the fields where the peppers were grown, a Jungle Gardens & Bird City visit, a very cool Greenhouse & Barrel Warehouse Tour, which included checking out and tasting the red pepper mash and aged mash.
Later in the afternoon a “Cooking with Louisiana Heat” cooking demo from none other than Chef Isaac Toups from Bravo’s “Top Chef” .
Another day on Avery Island had us visiting the McIlhenny Company Archives with Dr. Shane Bernard, Historian & Curator. The history of Avery Island was so interesting and Tabasco Red Pepper Sauce has been integrated into the lives of so many for so long.
What I learned was back in 1868, Edmund McIlhenny mixed up his own personal pepper sauce recipe with 3 simple key ingredients that started a hot pepper sauce tradition carried on to this day, five generations later.
Fully aged tabasco red peppers, salt from Avery Island, Louisiana, and distilled vinegar are the three natural ingredients that make up the sauce. After the crushed red pepper and salt mash gets aged in white oak barrels for 3 years, its later combined with a high-quality, distilled vinegar, strained for clarity and the result is the distinctive Tabasco Sauce known the world over.
The storage facilities for the barrels that are aged reminds me of the Indiana Jones movie where at the end the Arc is stored. Row after tall row of barrels are here. Each gets a thick covering of salt. As the peppers ferment and become a matured mash air escapes and gurgles out the top. Barrels are tapped with hammers and air bubbles escape up.
We were treated to an Airboat Ride later, zipping through the bayous, floating on the water, zipping past gators. So fun! To cool everyone down later we were treated to “Spice & Ice” – Tabasco Cocktails with Mixologist Nick Detrich.
He was delightful, passionate and so informative making cocktails that were enhanced using Tabasco. He even made me an alcohol free Green Pepper Sauce Pineapple and Herb drink that was just outstanding. He called it his Pequito Verdecito. I’ve included the recipe here if you’d like to download it.
We hit up the Processing & Tabasco Factory later and that was just fascinating. I love the behind the scenes stuff of how things are put together, assembled and how production is simplified and thought out. If you follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter I was posting like mad. Each time I turned around there was another great visual to be shared.
What was great was Tabasco had no issues with us taking videos or photos throughout the plant and I took full advantage of it. Here is a quick snippet of part of the bottling process.
Later we were able to do a “Tabasco Tasting: A Family of Flavors” at the Main Offices. Wow, what great time.
There was the iconic Tabasco Sauce, but also a Green Pepper Sauce, Chipotle Pepper, Buffalo Style Hot Sauce, Habanero (one of my favorites, great heat, but the flavor, wow!) Garlic Pepper and Sweet & Spicy (Probably the mildest of all, but so good).
A sweet Raspberry Chipotle and Family Reserve Pepper Sauce were two other flavors that made it to our tasting tables. The Family Reserve is a mixture of several of the different barrels of mash.
A trick that we learned was to use a little tab of butter to coat your tongue in between tastings and also it cleanses the palette. It works, really! Don’t go running for that cold glass of water, nope, it doesn’t help. The oils only get swished around and it doesn’t really cool you down as a bit of butter would.
While Tabasco adds a heat to whatever you put it on, it brings out the flavor of whatever you put it on. 140 years of hand crafted, bold and delicious red pepper sauce goodness splashed on everything from Eggs Benedict, in Bloody Mary’s to whatever you decide to create like this Cold Lentil Salad with Butternut Squash and Asparagus.
I used a good, hefty 1 tablespoon of the Tabasco Sweet & Spicy Pepper Sauce in the water I used to cook the lentils in. I felt it lent itself well to the Asian influenced salad dressing I wanted to make and infused the lentils with a great sweet and spicy flavor to enhance the cold salad.
Tabasco Sweet & Spicy has a special blending of both sweet and hot flavors, it’s what they like to call “sweet heat.” It’s perfect for dipping, using in glazes and basting on the grill. It has just the right amount of balanced flavor with exotic Asian influences and that’s why I chose it for this dish.
I was right, this cold lentil salad is outstanding. I hope you give this one a try. Tasty stuff and don’t be afraid of the amount of Tabasco used here, it’s flavor, not heat!
Thanks again to all who helped put the trip together – Jenn, Jennifer and Sarah and to everyone at Tabasco for their generosity. Now I need to go have a second helping of this Tabasco inspired salad. Enjoy!
Disclosure: I’m very excited to partner with Tabasco. I received all of the Tabasco products mentioned here for free and I used the Tabasco Sweet & Spicy Pepper Sauce in this recipe. I also received compensation for this post. I am happy for the opportunity to share brands with you that I believe in, and I hope you enjoy my recipe. Thanks for supporting the companies that continue to make Kevin Is Cooking possible.
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Butternut Squash and Lentil Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried black lentils
- 3 cups water
- 1 tbsp Tabasco Sweet & Spicy Pepper Sauce
- 1 lb butternut squash cubed
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp Chinese Five Spice powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 lb asparagus tough ends removed, chopped
- 2 cup arugula washed
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
- Asian Dressing
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger paste or 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp Chinese Five Spice powder
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp Tabasco Sweet & Spicy Pepper Sauce
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Soak lentils overnight in water covered by one inch. Rinse lentils and cook in medium saucepan with water and Tabasco Sweet & Spicy Pepper Sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 25 minutes covered.
- Whisk together the salad dressing ingredients. Set aside. Drain cooked lentils, place in a large bowl and pour dressing over. Stir to mix thoroughly and put in refrigerator to cool about 30 minutes.
- In a large skillet over medium heat melt the butter and add butternut squash. Toss to coat and add salt and Five Spice powder. Toss to coat and cook until browned on the edges, about 5-8 minutes. Add the chopped asparagus, toss to mix in and cover for 5 minutes to steam. Remove lid and place vegetables in bowl. Refrigerate to cool, about 15 minutes.
- Add washed arugula to bowl with lentil and add the cooled vegetables. Toss to thoroughly mix and coat with salad dressing. Serve chilled with slivered almonds on top.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Kevin! This looks soo good! I was excited to read about this! What a pimp trip 🙂 Love love love this. Tabasco and lentils? What a great idea! And your photos are great 🙂
It was a fantastic trip and the folks at Tabasco were so generous and kind. I’ll have more recipes with the delicious varieties of Tabasco coming soon, keep an eye out and happy to hear you like this one!
What a fun experience! Happy to see a brand new Asian dressing here with the addition of Tabasco. YUM!
Thanks Maggie. It was such a fun experience visiting Avery Island and the people at Tabasco are great.
Now I know what I’m going to make for dinner tonight. Thank you for another amazing recipe.
Thank you so much Kimberly, glad I can assist! 🙂
P.S. Those S&P shakers are gorgeous!!!
Thanks! Picked those beauties up in Jaipur. I used those wood spoons you sent me recently in an upcoming post. Thanks again friend. 🙂
That trip looks like it was so much fun! I’m going to remember that butter trick next time I OD on spicy food. 🙂 And oh wow, is this salad ever calling my name! My kind of meal for any time of day.
Thanks Faith, it was just a great time and the folks at Tabasco lived up to the Southern Hospitality theme BIG time. Since you’re down in Costa Rica maybe that butter trick will come quicker then you think to use. Have a great weekend. 🙂
I saw some of your posts of the Tabasco event on your social media and from this post it sounds like you had a blast and learned a lot! I am LOVING that you infused the lentils with Tabasco, Kevin!! So genius! This salad is absolutely beautiful and you packed it with all the things delicious! Seriously, you make one mean salad, buddy! I can’t wait to try this one!! Pinned! Cheers!
Thank you Chey, appreciate the kind words here friend. I wanted to get as much of the Tabasco flavor in them as possible while also having it in the dressing. Infusing them as they cooked seemed like a perfect way to go. I was quite happy with it. With all the fresh vegetables from Spring here I had easy pickings to choose from – they’re all so good! 🙂
Hey Kevin! What a fantastic trip! And I know you had plenty of that great Louisiana food! Gary makes a drink he calls a “Bloody Gary” which, of course, has Tabasco in it and his garnish is a cayenne dilled asparagus spear…pretty tasty! I’m not a big fan of lentils…could I substitute barley? We still have butternut squash from last fall’s harvest and our fresh Spring asparagus. I need to find some of the Sweet and Spicy!
It really was too fun, but somebodys got to do it right? Ha!
Between the po’boys, frogs legs, fried shrimp, crawfish boils and gourmet dining from chef Toups, I was in heaven. 🙂
Barley would be a great substitute here as well as farro if lentils aren’t your thing Dorothy, hope you give this a try.
Hey Kevin! There is no such thing to too much fun! We just can’t do it on a regular basis! Poor boys and frog legs and crab boil – I am so envious! We went out with friends today to a floating Tiki bar on Norris Lake – free food and whoa was it good! Smoked brisket, pulled pork, baked beans, coleslaw and desserts to die for! We are friends with the owner and he brought out take out boxes for what was left…I have three, one of meats and sides, one of desserts and one of fruit. I’m going to wake up several times tonight and hit the frig! 🙂
You guys live the life! Nagi and I will be calling you this coming week! 🙂
Hey Kevin! I am SO looking forward to talking to you and Nagi! And so is Gary! It has been rainy and cloudy here, but Sunday is suppose to be sunny, as I want the picture of us to be outside so you get an idea of where we live! E-mail me to let me know about when y’all will be calling so I will be sure to be in the house! We don’t have cell phones, just a land line (yeah, I know we live in the dark ages…my son reminds me all the time!). Sounds like Nagi is having a wonderful time! Talk to you soon! 🙂
Hi Dorothy! Cloudy Sunday here in San Diego, lucky you guys! Nagi will be here Monday through Wednesday, we’ll email first to set up a time to chat for sure. 🙂
Kevin, I so enjoyed reading about your trip after stalking err I meant following your escapades on Instagram! I have to know – what did it smell like where those barrels of fermenting peppers were being housed? I was amazed to read about the 3 simple ingredients that first went into making the now famous tabasco – wow – just goes to show eh?! And that pineapple drink with Tabasco – meohmy – any chance you have your version coming up on the blog? Speaking of blog – this recipe you have on here today sounds like such a delicious blend of flavors! I love the Tabasco Sweet & Spicy Pepper Sauce infused black lentils married with sweet butternut squash and crunchy asparagus and that Asian dressing! Fantastic recipe – thanks so much for sharing!
When we were in the “blending room” where the mash and vinegar gets mixed together prior to a 40 day rest I must say the aroma wafting from the HUGE barrels being stirred was a bit overwhelming in that I kept coughing. It was fun nonetheless.
I just updated the post here with Nick Detrich’s recipe if you would like to download the PDF, too. Thanks again Shashi! 🙂
Now this is my kind of summer salad right here! We’ve been going to town on summer salads + grilled food around here lately…and I suspect the warmer afternoon temps are influencing that one. (We’re finally breaking 70°F!) I love the spicy kick in there from the Tabasco Sweet + Spicy. If you could send a shipment of this salad our way, I will gladly accept it. Well done, my California friend! #WolfpackFlavor
I’m with you Dave and I must say the leftovers were just as good if not better then the first round. Spring is my favorite time of year with all things in bloom and the bounty of fresh vegetables and then Summer with all the fruits and more vegetables. That’s awesome you guys are hitting the 70°F temps! #WolfpackGrillers
This salad has my name written all over it, Kevin! LOVE lentils and LOVE spice so this is a winner for me! Squash coated in 5 spice, Tabasco in the lentils and dressing? YES please! The Habanero Tabasco flavour is my favourite too….bring the spice, right? Although, that one is not readily available ’round here. Wish it was, though! I love Tabasco in cocktails, especially spicy caesars! Those are awesome. I usually garnish with a bunch of food, too, like salami and pickled onions and beans so it’s a snack and drink all in one. Perfect for weekend drinks 🙂 Butter between tastings? Who would have thought? I’ve heard water is not good, but I’ve heard milk works. Makes sense to use butter, though, ’cause it’s dairy like milk. Sounds like you had a fantastic time. Must have been amazing and it’s great to actually use the product you saw being made in one of your recipes. Love this one and Pinning to make soon. Have a lovely upcoming weekend 🙂
Hello Dawn! I hopped off the grains for a day and hit up old friend the lentil. This was a fun one to work on and the textures, vegetables and Tabasco infused dressing was perfect.
I like your snack as you drink method, got to keep your strength up!
I had always heard the milk one too and the butter, just a little worked surprisingly well – and the folks at Tabasco should know, right? It was incredible to tour the premises and see from literally farm to table the Tabasco process and final products. Very cool. I was honored to be included. Have a great day yourself!