Italian Veggie Bake + Lentils

Active Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Why we love it:

As written, this dish is for lentils topped with cooked and raw veggies, but another great way to serve this is as a picnic style salad. And, it’s great at room temperature. Cook the lentils and veggie, but then dice them a little smaller into bite size pieces. Dice the raw veggies the same size and toss it all together and serve in a big bowl. Perhaps even add some greens like chopped lettuce, arugula, or kale.

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Ingredients

2 cups Green Lentils
4 cups Water
2¹⁄₂ teaspoons Kosher Salt (divided)
1 head Cauliflower (cut in florets, leaves too!)
¹⁄₄ pound Green Beans (ends trimmed)
1 Yam (washed, diced in 1" cubes)
3 Tablespoons Dried Italian Seasoning
3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (divided)
1 Lemon
1 15-ounce can Artichoke Hearts (drained and cut in quarters if they didn't come that way)
1 15-ounce can Green Olives, Pitted (drained)
2 Heirloom Tomatos
2 teaspoons Unsalted Butter
¹⁄₄ teaspoon Dijon Mustard

Cooking Instructions

1. preheat the oven to 425 degrees
2. LENTILS

Place the lentils, water, and 1 teaspoon of salt in a pot and set over high heat and cover it. Bring to a full boil. Once boiling, stir and reduce to medium low, so the water is still simmering. Keep it covered and time for 16 minutes. Return to the pot once or twice during this time to stir.
3. CAULIFLOWER + YAM

Line a baking sheet. Cut the cauliflower into florets. Don’t forget that even the stem and the inner pale green leaves are delicious! Dice them up too, you only need to trim off the very bottom of the cauliflower and perhaps the outer green leaves. Wash the yam skin. Dice into 1” cubes.
Toss the cauliflower and yam on the baking sheet with the 3 Tablespoons italian seasoning, 1.5 teaspoons of salt and 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Zest the lemon right over the veggies and dot with 1 teaspoons of butter.

Place near the bottom of the oven and roast for about 17 minutes. Check once or twice and stir the veggies on the pan.

During this time, prep the green beans. Trim the stem end only, and if they’re very long, cut them in half once. You can leave them whole if you don’t feel like making 2 cuts to each. Toss green beans with a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil - just enough to coat about ½ teaspoon.

After the 17 minutes of cooking, slide out the pan and stir, then scatter the green beans across the top. Return to the oven for 5-6 minutes or until the cauliflower and yams are tender and the beans are cooked.
4. ARTICHOKES + OLIVES + TOMATOES

While the cauliflower and lentils are cooking, drain the artichokes. Cut them in half or quarters if they aren’t already cut. Drain the olives.

Slice the tomatoes into thick wedges and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
5. SEASON LENTILS

When the lentils are done, they’ll be tender but ideally holding their shape. If there is any water leftover in the pot you can drain it out. Stir the remaining 1 teaspoon of butter into the lentils. Add the remaining Tablespoon of olive oil, and cut and squeeze the lemon juice in to the pot as well. Stir in the ¼ teaspoon of dijon.
6. PLATING

Plate the lentils and top with a big scoop or two of the roasted vegetables. Scatter the artichokes, olives, and tomatoes evenly around the plates to serve.

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Substitutions

LENTILS:

rice, quinoa, farro
DAIRY FREE:

simply omit the butter or sub coconut oil
YAM:

any cubed winter squash, potato, or even try eggplant or zucchini
CAULIFLOWER:

broccoli, romanesco, squash
DIJON:

if you aren't a fan, simply omit. Perhaps stir a little miso into the lentils to give them depth of flavor