Last-minute lentil salad

With all of the baking I did last week (2 cakes, 12 cupcakes, 8 dozen cookies) and the weekend chocolate fest in Hershey, I decided my blood sugar needed a break this week.  I was so proud of myself for walking to the grocery store from the gym and picking up some nice fruits and vegetables, rather than falling victim to pizza in some form.  And then I got home at 6:50, all motivated to cook up a nice meal before the hockey game started.  One small problem -- stupid Versus schedules the drop of the puck at 7:00, not 7:30 like FSN does.  I was not going to slave in the kitchen and miss the first period.  Game-time decision for dinner!

The night before I found a third of a bag of the super food uncooked lentils left over from this stew.  So I cooked up those with the intention of using them for some sort of nutritious dish.  I also had pretty red and yellow bell peppers from the store, scallions, and bacon.  Hmmm... could I make something out of this?  Maybe a dressing.  I had Dijon mustard, olive oil, and lemon juice.  Sounded good.  And had to taste good, too.  (It did, we'll get to that soon.)

Last-minute lentil salad
-serves 4, makes about 4 cups

1 1/2 cups cooked lentils, drained
2 peppers, diced (any color will do, but I liked red and yellow for the colors)
3 scallions, thinly sliced
8-10 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped/crumbled
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

In a large bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil, and mustard.  Add lentils, bell peppers, scallions, and bacon.  Toss to coat entire mixture with dressing.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve warm or cold... alone or paired with a bowl of soup or garlic bread.  So good!

Honestly, I didn't have many expectations for this since it was thrown together in such a hurry.  But wow, really satisfying on a cold night and the flavor of the bacon and lemon juice totally stood out in the dish (because hey, plain lentils are rather bland on their own).  And I brought some for lunch today and snuck a bite this morning to see how the flavors held up -- it got better!  The sweetness of the peppers and tart lemon/mustard dressing, and the bacon, ohhhhhhh the bacon.  Enjoy!

(My apologies for no pictures of my own today.  I left my camera in someone's car over the weekend and that little device ended up with her in New York City :)  I'm told that UPS will reunite me with my camera sometime later this week.  Whew!)