persimmon salad

I'm a huge fan of lentil salads (like this Vegetarian Lentil Taco Salad or this Lentil and Barley Greek-Style Salad), but I have to admit combining lentils, fruit, and avocados into this Fruity Lentil Salad with Persimmon, Apple, and Avocado was thinking outside the box, even for a lentil-lover like myself.  But please believe me when I say that this slighty-sweet salad with lentils and fruit was just delicious!  

I learned to really like persimmons when a blogging friend sent me some Fuyu Persimmons in the mail a few years ago.  Since then I've bought a few persimmons every fall when they start showing up in the stores in Utah.  It's persimmon season right now and you need a few persimmons in your life, don't you?   (And if the idea of persimmons + lentils is just too far outside the box, check after the recipe for more persimmon salad ideas!)

Of course this fruity lentil and persimmon salad is my Meatless Monday recipe for this week, and I hope some of you who aren't 100% sold on lentils will consider trying it.  (There are lots more Meatless Monday ideas tagged with the label Meatless Monday, or find them by checking Vegetarian Recipes in the recipe index.  I also have a really great Meatless Monday Pinterest board with ideas from a lot of my blogging friends, and I share a weekly Meatless Monday idea for Meatless Monday at BlogHer.com.)