Warm Lentil Salad with Sausage and Apple

It's no secret that Patrick and I take pleasure in weekend brunch. We love trying new brunch recipes (or sticking with old favorites) and having a relaxing morning in our home. On this particular morning for today's featured recipe we were hosting my parents for brunch before going to see a DPAC matinee. I'm not quite sure where I ran across this recipe but it's a warm lentil salad with sausage and apple and thus a new recipe. We served it with a cheese quiche which is an old favorite - grab the quiche recipe here.

Knowing our brunch would be more on the "lunch" side of things rather than the "breakfast" end we decided to steer towards a more lunch-based brunch with this salad that I think is perfect for brunch! I think it's so perfect that I wanted to share it before Christmas because I think it would be great to prepare around the holidays with family around. You can pair it with a quiche like we did and also add something sweet to the plate if you'd like. It's got sausage and lentils so it's quite filling too. It's a nice way to lighten up some holiday fare but still imparts lots of flavor and can please traditional palettes.

Warm Lentil Salad with Sausage and Apple
   Serves 4
Ingredients
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tbsp red-wine vinegar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
3 links hot or sweet turkey sausage, casings removed (we subbed pork breakfast sausage)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cooked or canned (rinsed) lentils
1 small bulb fennel, finely diced (we subbed green onions)
1 Granny Smith apple, finely diced
2 stalks celery with leaves, finely diced
6 cups arugula or mesclun greens

Directions
   Whisk 3 tablespoons oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
   Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook, stirring often and breaking up, until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds more. Stir in lentils and heat through, about 2 minutes. Stir in 5 tablespoons of the dressing and remove from the heat. Stir in fennel, apple and celery.
   Toss greens with the remaining dressing. Serve with the warm lentil mixture on top.

Happy brunching!