Vegan for more than 20 years; overweight for more than 30 year's

Sambamom

Vegan Casserole

Esau’s Potage

Ingredients
1 cup lentils
1/3 cup uncooked rice
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small can mushrooms (I often use fresh mushrooms)
1/3 cup oil (see Note)
2 cups cold water (I usually use vegetable broth)
Salt, pepper, seasonings (see Variations)

Directions
1. Wash lentils and rice in sieve.
2. Combine all ingredients in a casserole dish.
3. Cover and bake at 375F for about an hour. Using brown rice lengthens the cooking time.


NOTES
1. NO OIL has to be used if you spray the casserole dish and the cover with a vegetable oil spray.
2. I usually double – sometimes even triple – the recipe and fix the leftovers as a cold salad with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, or add to vegetable broth and make a hearty soup, or roll in a tortilla then top with (vegan) sour cream, cubed avocadoes, diced tomatoes. There are lots of creative ways to use the leftovers!
3. This is a very easy casserole to make and can be a side dish or a main dish served with a salad.
4. It is a very “forgiving” recipe. I’ve forgottensometimes and left it to bake for almost two hours and it was still OK!

Variations:

Asian: use ginger, 2-3 Tb soy sauce added to water or broth, garlic, toasted sesame oil

Indian: use curry, turmeric; add peas, cauliflower (frozen is fine)

Italian: use tomato paste, oregano, rosemary, basil, parsley

Mexican: use tomato juice, chopped jalapeños, chili powder, cumin, cilantro

The hodge-podge variation: add your favorite chopped vegetables before baking, for example: carrots, celery, bell peppers, hot peppers, fresh mushrooms, etc., even chopped apples work well


Main dish salad: serve left-over Esau’s on salad greens, surrounded with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, pickled peppers etc.; drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar