Vegetarian Greek Lentil Casserole Recipe with Bell Peppers and Feta

The weather lately has been miserable. I'm lucky enough not to live anywhere that requires owning a snow shovel but that just means instead of snow, we get rain. Constant, depressing, gloomy rain. I haven't been able to get to my mailbox in a week because the area around it is under several inches of water. I'm sick to death of precipitation, but, it did send me looking for a comfort food recipe.

Now, everyone seems to have their own definition of what comfort food is, and that is fine. In this case I went with a type of casserole. Everything in one pot, stick it in the oven, wait for a while for it to be done.

Vegetarian Greek Lentil Casserole with Bell Peppers and Feta 

Ingredients:
1 cup brown lentils, picked over and rinsed if needed (lentils that come in a package often don't need to be rinsed)
1 large onion, chopped small
2 tsp. minced garlic (or more)
1 cup + 2 T vegetable stock or broth (canned vegetable broth is fine here)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. Greek oregano
1 tsp. Greek Seasoning 
1 can (14.5 oz.) stewed tomatoes, drained and slightly mashed
1 green bell pepper, seeds removed and finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeds removed and finely chopped
3/4 cup crumbled Feta cheese

Instructions: 

Preheat oven to 375F/190C.  Use a 3 quart casserole dish with a tight-fitting lid.  Combine lentils, chopped onion, minced garlic, vegetable broth, bay leaf, black pepper, Greek oregano, and Greek seasoning in the casserole dish and bake covered for 45 minutes.

While lentils bake, drain the tomatoes and mash gently inside the can with a fork.  Cut seeds out of the bell peppers and finely chop, and crumble enough Feta to make 3/4 cup.

After 45 minutes, take lentils out of the oven, stir in the crushed tomatoes, put the lid back on and bake for 15 minutes more.  Then take out again, gently mix in the finely chopped bell pepper and 2/3 of the Feta.  Crumble the rest of the Feta over the top and bake 15-20 minutes more, or until the Feta is starting to melt and get lightly browned.  Serve hot.

Let's just say I should have known this was going to be an annoying recipe when the words "picked over and rinsed" were employed. I don't like spending a ton of time in the kitchen. I want quick, healthy (usually), and tasty. "Picked over and rinsed" just sounds pompous. I don't know, maybe it is just the weather getting to me. 

At any rate, I thought this sounded wonderful and with casseroles you almost always have leftovers for the next day's lunch which is definitely a bonus. I did follow the recipe on this one pretty closely as the only change I really made was leaving out the green bell pepper and using two red ones instead. 

This took a while to make. It didn't sound like it should but for some reason I felt like I'd been chained in the kitchen for over an hour just prepping for this. Who has time for that? And the only time I want to wait an hour or more for something to cook is if I am putting it in the crockpot but this also took forever to bake. 

In the end, it wasn't really worth it. The flavors were bland, I couldn't even taste the feta over the oppressive tomatoes, and the bell peppers had become almost completely mush which gave it a terrible mouth feel. The dish hadn't even cooled completely before finding it's way into the trash can. It was a waste of time and money and I found myself ordering delivery later in the evening simply because I had eaten so little of it that I was still hungry. 

 Vegetarian Greek Lentil Casserole with Bell Peppers and Feta may have sounded promising but I most definitely will not be trying this one again. 

(Recipe and photo taken from original website Kalyn's Kitchen)