This salad was one of my favorite things I ate last week. Which is saying something, because last week I went to San Francisco for a couple days and ate WELL. Also, Dave made deep dish pizza, which is quite possibly my favorite food in the world. And, I ate a lot of runny eggs. So between those three, you’d think it would be hard for another meal to make it to the top of my apparently-now-official ranking. Well, this one was mighty good:

I’ve really been working hard to make my work lunches especially more healthy, and to strike that fine balance of being healthy but also keeping me full until dinner. They don’t always turn out this awesome.

I especially loved roasting the blood oranges here. Not just because they made the salad VERY pretty. If you can imagine biting into the best orange ever – and then imagine if it’s flavor was very concentrated – and THEN, imagine getting a burst of concentrated best orange ever admist savory kale and lentils… well, that’s about what this is like.

I can’t wait to make it again.

Here’s what you need:
1 cup cooked brown lentils*
2 cups lacinato kale, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 blood orange, peeled and sliced
1 Tbsp. finest quality olive oil
1/2 tsp. pomegranate molasses
2 Tbsp. chopped walnuts
1 Tbsp. dried currants
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

*Cook lentils at a 2:1 ratio using stock and a heavy pinch of salt ONLY. Cooking them with water will leave them pretty bland.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the orange slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until slightly caramelized.

While the oranges are roasting, heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a skillet and, when hot, toss in the kale, coating it as much as possible with oil. Salt liberally and cook until wilted and reduced in volume by about 1/2.

Toss lentils with finest quality olive oil and pomegranate molasses, then plate, topping with the kale and then the roasted orange slices. Sprinkle with walnuts and currants, and finally, season to taste with salt and pepper.