This week I am doing the Rice Casserole with Lentils from Forks Over Knives recipe page.
If anyone is looking for some new ways to cook vegetarian meals, this is a great site.
I ended up making the various components of this recipe on different days. I made the rice one day, the delicious tomato sauce and lentils the next day and then by Day Three I had enough time to prepare the vegetables and finish the casserole.
Here are all the components assembled in one place. You can see that this ends up being a total meal all by itself. Brown rice, lentils, tons of vegetables and some good healthy oil from the cashew nut topping.
I followed it more or less to the letter. I used twice the amount of garlic and our local Co-op had some purple sweet potatoes so I could not resist using one.
Obviously everything is organic, much of it locally grown.
Here is the finished masterpiece.
I am eating some as I write this and
I am eating some as I write this and
I definitely proclaim this dish "Potluck Worthy"*
*"Potluck Worthy" is a phase I use to describe a dish I would be comfortable cooking for other people as compared to the various concoctions I throw together at home that I eat but would probably never serve to someone else.
Here is the recipe, copied from Forks Over Knives recipe section
RICE CASSEROLE WITH LENTILS
By Darshana Thacker
Makes one (9 × 13-inch) casserole
Ready In: 100 minutes
This dish is a real crowd-pleaser, and is
especially
good for big gatherings like Super Bowl
parties. I love
it with rice, but it’s also really good
with pasta. Both
options are given below. The lentils need
to be
soaked for at least six hours, so be sure
to plan
ahead.
FOR THE CASHEW CRUMBLE
CHEESE
½ cup cashews
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
½ teaspoon low-sodium tamari or soy
sauce, Bragg’s liquid aminos, or fresh
lime juice
1 cup brown lentils, rinsed and soaked
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Sea salt
1½ cups brown rice, or 3 cups penne
pasta
FOR THE SAUTEED
VEGETABLES
2 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed
and cut into ½-inch dice
¼ medium cabbage, chopped into
½-inch pieces
½ medium red onion, cut into ½-inch
dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
2 medium zucchini, cut into ½-inch
dice
1 bell pepper, any color, seeded and
cut into ½-inch dice
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes with
their juice
1 teaspoon dried basil
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground white or
black pepper
Sea salt
1 cup roughly chopped fresh basil
Instructions:
1. To make the cashew crumble cheese, in
a food
processor, grind the cashews into a meal
(do not
overprocess into cashew butter). Transfer
them to a
small bowl, and mix in the nutritional
yeast. Little by
little, add the liquid of your choice,
stirring with a fork
so that the mixture does not form clumps.
The
mixture should be crumbly. Set aside to
dry until
ready to use.
2. Place the soaked lentils in a medium
saucepan
with the Italian seasoning, salt, and 1
cup water.
Bring to a boil over high heat, then
reduce the heat
to medium, and cook, covered, until the
lentils are
cooked but still firm, about 15 minutes.
Be careful
not to overcook them. Set aside.
3. Meanwhile, if using rice, place it in a
medium
saucepan with 2½ cups water. Bring to a
boil and stir
once. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to
low, and
simmer, covered, until the rice is
cooked, about 25
minutes. Remove from the heat and let
stand,
covered, for 5 minutes. Remove the cover
and fluff
the rice. Set aside.
4. If using pasta, bring a large saucepan
of water to a
boil. Add the pasta and cook according to
the
package instructions until the pasta is
al dente. Drain
thoroughly and set aside.
5. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
6. To prepare the sautéed vegetables, in
a skillet with
a lid, combine the sweet potatoes,
cabbage, onion,
garlic, dried basil, and 1½ cups of the
vegetable
broth. Cover and cook over medium heat,
stirring
occasionally, until the sweet potatoes
are almost
tender but still resist a bit when
pierced with a knife,
15 to 20 minutes.
7. Add the zucchini and bell pepper and
cook,
uncovered, until the vegetables are
completely
softened, about 10 minutes.
8. In a small bowl, combine the remaining
½ cup
vegetable broth and the arrowroot powder.
Whisk
until blended. Pour the mixture over the
vegetables
and stir gently to coat them. Cook over
medium-low
heat, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove
from the
heat and set aside.
9. Meanwhile, prepare the tomato sauce.
In a
saucepan, combine the onion and ½ cup
water.
Cover and cook over high heat until the
onions are
very soft, about 10 minutes.
10. Add the tomatoes, dried basil,
pepper, and salt,
and cook over medium heat until the sauce
thickens
a bit and the flavors merge, about 15
minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in
the fresh
basil. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Set aside.
11. Spread the rice or pasta in a 9 x
13-inch baking
pan that is 2 inches deep. Layer the
lentils over the
rice to cover completely. Spread the
sautéed
vegetables over the lentils. Spoon the
tomato sauce
over the vegetables. Spread the cashew
crumble
cheese all over
the top.
12. Bake until the cashew cheese turns
light brown,
about 20 minutes.
13. Serve hot.
