If I said we were having roasted vegetables and lentils for dinner, most people might roll their eyes. Why are lentils not as cool as french fries?! These roasted vegetable and lentil stacks will change their reputation by association. (Speaking of reputation, what are your thoughts on the new Taylor Swift album? As always, I didn’t love some of the songs at first, but they are g r o w i n g on me!)
Back to vegetable stacks!
So, sitting pretty atop a bed of lentils are layers of roasted acorn squash, cauliflower “steaks” (see how we have to involve meat to get the cool factor?!), sweet potatoes and apples.
You can start this recipe from scratch, or you can take a short-cut by layering up whatever veggies you might bake on your Sunday prep day. Portobellos would be a lovely addition along with eggplant, zucchini, or butternut squash.
Step one.
Roast vegetables.
I used olive oil, lemon, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper to season the vegetables (and roots…) before roasting. It looks like a lot, but it’s just one hot oven and a few sheet pans.
Step Two:
Cook the lentils per the package instructions, until tender.
And make your maple dressing!
Spoon a few lentils on a plate and flatten them with the back of a spoon to make a flat surface. Then begin to stack the veggies, those with the largest diameter on the bottom.
Then, drizzle your prepared dressing over the stack.
And garnish with nuts! I chose honey roasted sliced almonds from Trader Joe’s.
There you have it – a lovely all-in-one fancy side dish or a simple healthy lunch!
Roasted Vegetable Stacks
Ingredients
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 1 small acorn squash
- 1 small head of cauliflower trimmed
- 1 honeycrisp apple
- 2 sprigs of rosemary minced
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup dried lentils
- Salt + pepper
- 2-3 tbsp sliced almonds
For the dressing
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1.5 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Line two medium baking sheets with parchment and one extra, smaller baking sheet. Set aside.
- Combine the minced rosemary, salt, pepper, lemon juice and oil in a bowl.
- Slice the acorn squash and sweet potato about an inch thick across. Try to cut them so that you get a large cross section for stacking. After trimming the cauliflower, cut into cross sections to form steaks. Finally, thinly slice the apple.
- Lay the slices on the baking sheets. Brush both sides with the rosemary oil mixture, and place baking sheet into the oven. The thicker vegetables should take about 40-45 minutes (or until tender with a fork) to brown up and soften, and the thinner vegetables and apples 10-15 minutes.
- While the vegetables are roasting, cook the lentils according to the package, simmering about 25-30 minutes. Season lentils with salt and stir in a small amount of olive oil to keep them separated.
- For the dressing, combine ingredients in a jar and mix until combined.
- To serve, divide the warm lentils among plates, pressing down on them with the back of a spoon to make a flat surface. Stack the roasted vegetables on top of the flattened lentils from widest to narrowest and thinnest.
- Drizzle the stacks with maple vinaigrette. Garnish with the nuts. Serve warm.
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
This looks delicious, Kath! Such an interesting new way of presenting the veggies 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Shayne says
I love reputation! I agree, at first I had to get used to her new vibes, but every song has grown on me!
KathEats says
I need to listen to the whole album soon
elle says
I love that idea! What a great recipe.
And Reputation – the more I listen to it, the more I LOVE it!
Carrie this fit chick says
These stacks are beautiful! love the idea.
Jen says
Those look so good!! I’m definitely adding them to my meal plan this week!! Kath have you tried those silicon baking mats? I just got two from Amazon (their Basics brand) for $10, and they are so awesome for cleanup and absolutely no sticking.
KathEats says
I have had one before but it was so hard to clean because it was floppy! How do you clean yours?
Jen says
I either leave it in the sheetpan and scrub it on the counter then just rinse it and the sheetpan off, or I lay it flat in the sink to scrub it. I’ve noticed I’ve been using a ton less oil (and foil/parchment), too, so a little bit of a money saver. I’m a pinchpenny so that made me very happy 😛
KathEats says
Cleaning in the pan is a great idea!
Kori says
I seriously was brainstorming this morning on how I wanted to prepare our lentils for dinner tomorrow. This is perfect timing!! So so pretty and creative.
Denise says
I was literally doing this last night! I looked in my pantry and decided I had to do something with all those lentils ha ha ha!
Melissa says
As a vegetarian, I’m always looking for new and innovative recipes to try and I absolutely love how these look! It combines all of my favorite veggies in one dish!
Jess says
Love this! Definitely making soon
KathEats says
🙂
Linda @ The Fitty says
Do you roast your zucchinis or eat them raw, or both?
Nicole @ Bento Momentos says
How fancy – these things are pricey at restaurants but look so easy/cheap to make!