peach and puy lentil salad — this one's a keeper

Peaches are properly good right now. I picked some up at the St Nick's market on Saturday and honestly they were so ripe I had to use them that day or lose them. Ended up throwing together this salad for lunch and it was one of those meals where you're a bit surprised it worked as well as it did. Peach & Puy Lentil Salad with Goat's Cheese and Toasted Walnuts Serves 2 Ingredients - 150g puy lentils (dried), rinsed - 2 ripe peaches, stoned and cut into wedges - 60g soft goat's cheese, crumbled - 30g walnuts, roughly chopped - Large handful of rocket - Small bunch of fresh mint, torn - 1 small shallot, finely sliced For the dressing: - 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil - 1 tbsp cider vinegar - 1 tsp Dijon mustard - ½ tsp honey - Salt and black pepper Method Cook the lentils in unsalted water for about 20–25 minutes until tender but still holding their shape — not mushy. Drain and leave to cool slightly. Meanwhile toast the walnuts in a dry pan for a few minutes, keep an eye on them because they go from fine to burnt very quickly. Whisk the dressing together. Toss the warm lentils with the dressing while they're still a little warm so they absorb it better. The trick is doing this step before they cool completely — makes a real difference to the flavour. Then layer everything up: lentils, rocket, peach wedges, shallot, mint, goat's cheese, walnuts. Nutritionally speaking, puy lentils are a solid plant-based protein source — around 18g protein per 100g dried — and they come with a decent amount of iron and folate. The fat here is mostly unsaturated from the walnuts and olive oil, which is fine. Goat's cheese is lower in lactose than most cow's milk cheeses if that matters to you. You can swap this for a good vegan feta if you need it fully dairy-free. Approx per serving: 480 kcal, 22g protein, 48g carbs, 22g fat Oli had seconds which I'm taking as a strong endorsement.