Baked Butternut Squash, Lentils, and Potatoes

It's autumn and you know what that means. Squash. Gourds. Pumpkins. Apples. Cinnamon. I love the seasonal vegetables of fall, especially butternut squash. This next dish was just something that I put together on a whim. It turned out all right but a bit bland and needed a little more seasoning.

I love the bright orange color of butternut squash

Mix it all up and put it in the oven

I need to work on my plating

Baked Butternut Squash, Lentils, and Potatoes
Ingredients

• 1 lb 1.1 oz  butternut squash, cubed
• 6.6 oz dried and uncooked lentils, rinsed
• 13.6 oz red potato, cubed
• 1.9 oz diced onion
• 1 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 tsp onion salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Procedure

1. Place all ingredients in an appropriately sized baking dish. Mix well, making sure the lentils are mostly submerged in the liquid.
2. Cover baking dish with foil and bake at 424 degrees Fahrenheit for about 1 hour.
3. Serve as is or over rice with a little bit of Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Lentil and Leek Almost Vegetarian Stew

Starting with this post, I made it my goal/challenge to include some calculated/estimated nutritional information with the recipe. I don't think there's enough science and math in this blog. I talk about experiments in the kitchen, but true experiments need to be better documented than what I have had previously. Hopefully I will be able to keep up. Let's call it a labor of love. Math takes time and effort. Cooking is the easy part.

This recipe came to fruition when I made a list of everything that I had in my fridge and pantry and started to mix and match ingredients to throw into a crock pot. I happened to find the leeks I had frozen a while ago in the back of my freezer.  Typically used in soups, most commonly potato and leek soup, for me leeks add something mysteriously sweet and full-bodied to the dish. I say mysterious because I slice it really thin and they end up nearly liquefying in the crock pot whenever I make stews or soups so it disappears leaving behind its essence. I would definitely say that leeks were the secret ingredient in this dish that gave the dish most of its flavor.

Lentil and Leek Almost Vegetarian Stew
2 cups per serving. Recipe makes about 3 servings.
Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped kale
• 5 oz baby bella mushrooms cut into quarters or eights depending on the size of the mushroom
• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1.5 cup dry lentils
• 2 cups chicken broth (replace with vegetable broth to make this recipe vegetarian friendly)
• 7 oz baby carrots
• 1 cup/ 1.3 oz frozen leeks
• 1 cup water
• salt, pepper, thyme, basil, oregano to taste

Procedure

1. Put lentils in the crock pot first, then add the rest of the ingredients, ensuring that the lentils are covered with liquid.
2. Cook for 2 hours on low and then stir the pot. Then cook for 5 more hours on low.

Lentil and Leek Almost Vegetarian Stew Estimated Nutritional Information Per Serving (Serving size = 2 cups; 3 servings in 1 recipe)
Total Calories	455.55
Total Fat (g)	1.81
Cholesterol(mg)	0
Sodium (mg)	421.69
Potassium (mg)	1477.66
Total Carbs (g)	82.8
Fiber (g)	33.18
Sugar (g)	11.55
Protein (g)	30.65

Experimental Kale and Lentil Dish

Kale, sweet potatoes, and lentils are really good for you. (Or so the internet tells me.)These foods contain large amounts of fiber and vitamins and are supposedly super filling. I had all these ingredients in my refrigerator and wasn't quite sure what I would do with it so I decided to wing it and make a tangy, sweet but a little salty dish. Vegetable broth can be used instead of chicken broth to make this dish vegetarian-friendly. Be forewarned that the amounts of spices are approximated since I decided to add more spices after taste testing and adjusted the amounts to my best guess of what actually went into the dish. My best advice is to just have the ingredients list and add the listed amount and then add more of whatever ingredient you feel is needed until the dish tastes right to you.

Experimental Kale and Lentil Dish

Ingredients

• 1/2 med red onion, minced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• approx. 4 oz baby bella mushrooms, quartered or eighthed depending on the size
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• about 8 oz. cooked lentils
• 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth
• 6 cups chopped kale

Procedure

1. In a small pot, boil water and cook the lentils according to the instructions on the package.
2. In a large pot, cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil. Stir occasionally, then add the sweet potato and mushrooms.
3. Add in the salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, cumin, and balsamic vinegar to the large pot.Stir occasionally. Cook until sweet potato pieces have begun to soften.
4. To the large pot, add the cooked lentils, chicken broth, and chopped kale. Mix well. Cook until kale has wilted.