Kabocha mushroom lentil sheet pan with feta-tahini dip
This dish has become a staple when vegetarian friends come for dinner. The sheet pan is good, but it’s the feta-tahini dip that makes it soooooooo good. It tastes really savoury but doesn’t make you regret having a second helping. I always feel good after I eat this meal. It’s pretty flexible too - the original recipe calls for sweet potatoes but I used squash instead tonight and it was just as tasty.
Tonight’s takes:
Husband: “This tastes like authentic influencer food.” 😜 Smartass.
Helen (5 1/2 years old): “The garlic sauce is spicy. Squash good. Mushrooms not good. Lentils super good.”
Hector (3 years old): “I love this dinner. What did you put in it? I don’t like the green sauce. I like this.” [points at squash]
What I used:
1 kabocha squash
680g button mushrooms - it was the mushroom box from Costco
1 cup black lentils
2 garlic cloves
~ 1/4 cup red onion
~1/2 cup feta + 1/4 cup feta brine
~ 1/2 cup tahini
a few handfuls of spinach
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsps dill (dry)
~ 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
What I did:
Turned oven onto 400°F convert roast.
Washed mushrooms. Tossed with lots of olive oil and salt.
Spread mushrooms over 2 sheet pans.
Washed and quartered kabocha squash.
Removed seeds. Cut up into smaller pieces. Had to use heft (i.e. banging squash + knife against the cutting board) to get through thick parts. Removed top and bottom (stem and butt).
Tossed pieces with lots of olive oil and salt. Spread amongst mushrooms.
Put sheet pans into oven. Set timer to 20 minutes
Measured out 1 cup lentils. Added lentils + 3 cups water to saucepan. Brought to boil, reduced heat, and left to simmer.
Turned my attention to the sauce. Added feta, garlic and onion to food processor.
Blended.
Added 1/4 cup tahini, 1 handful of spinach, brine, olive oil and 1/4 cup cold water.
Blended.
Added 1 tsp dry dill.
Blended.
Tasted. All I could taste was garlic and feta. Added 1/4 cup more tahini (used 1/2 cup total) and another handful of spinach (2 handfuls total).
Blended.
Tasted. Added 1 tsp more dill (used 2 tsps total). Needed something sour. Added red wine vinegar.
Blended. Tasted. Done.
Waited for sheet pans and lentils to finish. After 20 minutes of the sheet pans cooking (15 minutes of the lentils cooking), both the sheet pan and the lentils needed another 10 minutes.
When lentils were done (25 minutes cooking total), drained off excess water.
Removed sheet pans (30 minutes cooking total). Consolidated onto one. Added lentils on top.
Served!
Next time:
I was a bit too liberal with the feta-tahini dip tonight. To start with, it was way too spicy. Next time only 1 clove of garlic and no onion. The addition of the spinach added nice colour and didn’t impart much flavour; I’ll do this again. I’ll definitely get fresh dill next time - it makes such a difference to the final flavour. And red wine vinegar is a poor substitute for lemon juice. Next time, I’ll make sure to use a lemon. Basically, I’ll follow the recipe a lot closer next time.
For the sheet pan, the squash instead of the yams was awesome. I’ll do this again for sure. The squash is sweet but not so sweet like yams. And kabocha squash is awesome for weeknight meals because you don’t have to peel it. Once roasted, the peel is firm, but edible. Makes for quick prep (and probably good fibre 😆).
Happy cooking.
😋😋😋
-Ellisa