You know what? I don't at all mind lentils. I know they're not paleo, not even by a long stretch of imagination even for the most lenient of paleo revisionists, but who cares?
What they are is a good pack of protein, good micros and, as our man at Free the Animal will tell us, a useful source of resistant starch. The bad? Anti-nutrients! Which are largely neutered by the soaking and cooking process.
Not ideal, but certainly not all bad ... and if you like them, a perfectly good deviation for a quick meal.
Casserole: French for "saucepan", a deep dish which is both committed to the oven and presented at the table for serving.
I went with the following:
- Turkey Sausages & Smoked Bacon
- Onion, Garlic & Chilli
- Potato
- Mushrooms
- Green Lentils (Canned)
- Tomato Purée
- Dried Marjoram, Black Pepper & Sea Salt
- Fresh Parsley
Toss in some shredded smoked bacon, chopped onion, garlic and chilli. Fry off until softened.
Add in cubed potatoes and fry on to start to cook through.
In with the mushrooms, sliced, quartered or chopped, to mop up the surplus fat.
Tip in the can of lentils, water and all.
Finally, a good squirt of tomato purée, dried marjoram, black pepper and sea salt.
Settle into the oven for about half an hour to cook through and reduce, and you're done.
Remove from the oven, stirring in some fresh parsley and serve at the table with something green - tenderstem broccoli, here, Savoy Cabbage would do equally well.
