Roasted Beets & Lentils With “Caramelized” Onions, Dill & Marinated Feta

Recipe courtesy of Jodi Belluz, Belluz Farms

This dish is one of three vegetarian platters demonstrated by Jodi Belluz in our January 2022 show.  All three of these delicious recipes are easy and versatile; they can be prepared ahead and served warm or cold; they can be refrigerated in their individual components and assembled into wonderful packed lunches.  Makes about 4-5 servings as a meal.

Method:

Make the Marinated Feta:

Ideally, you want this to marinate for about a week in the fridge before using.  Once you’ve made it, it’ll keep for a couple of months if everything remains covered in the oil.  Use it as a salty, tangy topping for veggies or grains OR just eat it from the jar.  If you don’t like feta, you could always use sour cream or yogurt in this recipe instead.

1. In a 500ml jam jar or another similar sized container, layer your cubes of feta, garlic cloves, about ¼ tsp of chili flakes (optional).  Pour your oil over to cover.  I love the nutty flavour of Brule Creek Cold-Pressed Canola Oil, but olive oil works wonderfully here too.  Let sit in the fridge for at least a week and up to 2 months.

Cook Your Lentils:
You don’t have to soak your lentils before cooking, but I find that it really reduces the cooking time and makes them more digestible.  Apparently, and “so-I’m told”, if you soak grains and pulses before cooking, the phytic acid is released into the soaking water making the minerals and nutrients more readily available to us.

1. Drain your soaking lentils and give them a quick rinse.  Then place the lentils in a medium, heavy-bottomed pot and cover with water so there’s at least 1-2 inches of water above them. 
2. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a gentle simmer.  They’ll take anywhere from 20-40 min to cook, depending on the age of the lentil.  I’d check on them at the 20 min mark – they should be very tender when done.  If they’re not, give them another 5-10 minutes and check again. 
3. Once cooked, drain, and set aside in a bowl.

Roast Your Veggies:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pre-heat your oven to 400F.
2. Give your beets a good scrub if you think they need it and then chop into bite size pieces.  I rarely peel my beets – we don’t mind the texture of the skins.  But if you’d like, just use a peeler to take the skins off.  If you wash your hands right away, they won’t really stain.
3. Peel your onion, cut in half, trim off the stem ends, and then cut into a total of 8 wedges.  Separate the layers of your wedges.
4. Put all the veggies on your baking tray, drizzle liberally with oil and toss it all with your hands to make sure they’re all well covered.  Spread out evenly and season well with salt and pepper.
5. Roast for about 40 minutes – tossing halfway.  You want the beets to be tender and the onions to be soft and caramelized.

Put It All Together:

1. Drizzle a little of that delicious oil from your marinated feta over your lentils.  Splash about 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar over too.  Season with salt and pepper.  Taste and adjust vinegar, oil or salt & pepper as you’d like.
2. Splash a little red wine vinegar over your roasted veggies, taste and season with more salt & pepper if needed.
3. In a nice serving bowl or platter, spread out the lentils and the place your beets and onions over top.  Crumble about 3-4 cubes of feta over top OR you could dollop over sour cream or yogurt if you’d rather.  Sprinkle your dill over the entire thing and you could add more chili flakes if you’d like too.
4. Serve warm, at room temperature or cold.

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