Wondering what to do with your leftover ham this Christmas? Why not try this delicious Leftover Ham, Squash and Puy Lentil Salad, drizzled with an incredible honey, mustard and balsamic vinegar dressing?
OK hands up who makes too much food at Christmas and has a fridge full of leftovers on Boxing Day? I am certainly one who is guilty of this. No matter how carefully I plan, I always seem to make way too much food on Christmas Day and bizarrely no-one ever seems to have much of an appetite for one of the most anticipated meals of the year! (I blame that tin of Celebrations!!)
One thing that always seems to get leftover is the Christmas ham… and delicious as they are, there are only so many ham sandwiches a person can eat. This year I wanted to create a simple and healthy salad that would be a great way of finishing up that leftover ham and be full of goodness too… I think this scrumptious Leftover Ham, Squash and Puy Lentil Salad ticks all those boxes, don’t you?
No leftover Christmas ham? Don’t worry, you could easily make this with leftover turkey or some cooked chicken… or else it gives you a great excuse to buy some and try out my Easy Mulled Wine Christmas Ham recipe (shown here) or my Easy Peasy Honey Roast Ham.
This easy peasy salad is also gluten free and dairy free, making it a great choice for taking to a Boxing Day party – (though do check the ham itself is gluten and dairy free – some of the pre-glazed hams you can buy in the shops are definitely not!).
To make this salad quick and easy to do, I have used a pouch of Merchant Gourmet puy lentils, but of course you can cook up your own lentils first, if you prefer. To make this salad more filling, or to make this recipe feed more people, you could also stir in a pack of Merchant Gourmet quinoa too.
And if you have leftover turkey, not ham, you can most definitely use that instead – or why not throw in both, if you have them! Need more inspiration for your leftover turkey? Take a look at my Turkey, Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos!!
A great wine match for this salad would be an oaked Chardonnay or Chenin Blanc, or even a Viognier.
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Leftover Ham, Squash and Puy Lentil Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 500 g butternut squash peeled and cubed
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 250 g pouch cooked puy lentils (I use Merchant Gourmet)
- 300 g cooked ham cubed
- 200 g watercress, lambs lettuce or spinach (or any salad leaves you fancy)
Dressing
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon mustard (check this is gluten free, if you need it to be)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 220C / 200C fan / gas mark 7 / 425F.
- Place the butternut squash and olive oil in the tray and mix together thoroughly. Place the tray in the oven and roast for 25 minutes.
- Add puy lentils and ham and roast for a further 10 minutes, until the ham is piping hot all the way through.
- Meanwhile, mix all the dressing ingredients in a jam jar (or similar), screw on the lid and shake until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the dressing over the butternut squash, ham and puy lentil mixture and stir.
- Serve on a bed of watercress, or whatever salad leaves you have chosen.
Notes
- Not suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
Get More Easy Peasy Leftovers Recipes here…
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Cat | Curly's Cooking says
What a great way to use leftover ham. I love a good winter salad and these flavours sound really tasty.
Eb Gargano says
Aw, thanks Cat! Eb 🙂