Most nights I have been eating salad for dinner, but after a while, it can get boring having the same salad multiple times a week. That’s why I decided to try something different with this Black Lentil Cauliflower Mushroom Salad. (Say that three times fast!) It’s full of new, exciting flavors and doesn’t require many ingredients. Just know that it is a little bit of work to prepare it as you must cook each ingredient separately. And I also know you might want to avoid all this work with it being summer and all, but trust me, that this salad is really worth the effort!

The ingredients for this salad include black lentils, cauliflower, mushrooms and lettuce or other green leaves that you prefer. While making the salad, I tried it with arugula leaves too and it was delicious. For the sake of styling the pictures and making the salad look pretty, I placed the lettuce under the other ingredients in the bowl. Before having the salad, just cut the leaves into small pieces - there’s no need to style it as I did. For the dressing, you will need olive oil, date syrup (silan), lemon juice, salt and pepper. You can switch the date syrup to maple syrup or agave if you don’t have any silan (you can also use honey but then the recipe is not vegan anymore).
To make the salad, start by cooking the cauliflower in boiling water to make it tender. Then you need to roast the mushrooms in the oven and also cook the black lentil in water too. As I mentioned already, each ingredient must be cooked separately since cooking times and methods for each one are a bit different. If you want, you can also prepare all of the cooked ingredients ahead of time and leave them in the fridge overnight. Then you assemble the salad when you want to have it, mix the dressing in a bowl and drizzle over the cooked vegetables and green leaves.
The cauliflower is cooked to your preferred tenderness, I like it very soft and falling apart, if you want it more crunchy then cook it for a shorter time instead.
This black lentil, cauliflower and mushroom salad is very filling thanks to the lentils.

Black lentils are also called sometimes beluga since they look like beluga caviar. Don’t you worry though, this recipe is vegan and doesn’t include caviar. This lovely salad can fit as a side dish on any dinner or BBQ or other big meal. It can also be your main dish since the lentils contain fibers and protein and are considered very healthy and filling.
The 9 days before 9th of Av are here this weekend and you might be wondering what to eat. Since my blog is vegetarian, practically all of my recipes can fit but this one is a great fit because the lentils are a great filling protein source.
Regarding the mushrooms, I choose to roast them in the oven and not sauté on the stove top. Either way is good for this salad. I shared on the blog in the past a sautéed mushroom recipe and you can use it for this salad. If you like raw mushrooms it can work too. I prefer cooked mushrooms since I find they have more deep flavors after cooking.
If you want, you can also add more raw vegetables like cucumber, pepper, or nuts to get more crunchy bites.
The dressing is pretty simple and has sweet and sour flavors that combine perfectly with the cauliflower lentils and mushrooms.
For more salads, check out my salad recipe index.
Here is the recipe for this yummy black lentil cauliflower and mushroom salad:

Black Lentil Cauliflower Mushroom Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup black lentils
- 1 head of cauliflower cut into small florets
- 1 lb. (440 grams) champignon mushrooms
- 2 tablespoon olive oil + salt and pepper (for roasting the mushrooms)
- 1 lettuce head separated leaves
For the dressing:
- 4 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon silan date syrup
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- salt and pepper by your taste
Instructions
- Set the oven to 180°C / 350°F with the fan.
- Cut the mushrooms and place them on a baking pan.
- Drizzle the olive oil, salt, and pepper on the cut mushrooms.
- Roast for 10-15 minutes until mushrooms start to release liquids and turn darker.
- Set the mushrooms aside to cool.
- Place the cauliflower florets in a pot, cover with boiling water and cook for 10-15 minutes to the level of tenderness you like.
- Strain the cauliflower from the water and set it aside to cool.
- Place the black lentils in a pot and add cold water to cover.
- Cook on high for 30 minutes until lentils turn soft and fully cooked.
- Strain the lentils and set them aside to cool.
- In a small bowl, mix all the dressing ingredients well.
- In a big bowl, place the lettuce and add the cauliflower, mushrooms, and lentils.
- Drizzle the dressing over the salad.
- Mix well.
- Serve and enjoy!
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