Red Lentils & Brown Rice with Roasted Cauliflower and Tomato Jam

Red Lentils & Brown Rice with Roasted Cauliflower and Tomato Jam

Sunday night I tried a recipe for cauliflower penne puttanesca from Real Simple but I omitted the cheese and decided to roast my cauliflower instead of pan frying it.  Since I was only cooking for my husband and me, I had half a head of roasted cauliflower left over.  I refrigerated it over night and made this recipe with the left overs last night. I am doubling it here assuming you would be starting with a whole head of cauliflower.

Red Lentils & Brown Rice with Roasted Cauliflower and Tomato Jam

Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 cup short-grained brown rice
1 cup red lentils
1 head cauliflower
3 tbsp olive oil
1  tbsp vegan butter or olive oil
1 32 oz can whole tomatoes, chopped and juice reserved
1/2 red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp light brown sugar
salt

Ingredients

Directions: 
Preheat the oven to 425. Rinse and chop a head of cauliflower into florets and toss the florets with 1/2 tsp red pepper, 1 tsp salt and 2 tbsp olive oil.
Spread on a lined baking sheet and roast for 20-30 min, turning florets often.

Meanwhile, bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan for the rice.  In another saucepan bring 4 cups water to boil for the lentils.

When the water is boiling for the rice, stir it in and add 1 tbsp vegan butter
or olive oil. Cover, turn the heat to low and let cook 35-45 minutes until water is absorbed.

When the water is boiling for the lentils, stir them in and lower to a simmer.
Cover and cook until tender, stirring occasionally for 25-35 minutes.

For the tomato jam:
Preheat a medium-sized frying pan to medium-high and add a tbsp of olive oil 
Add the garlic and red onion and saute until softened adding the salt, cinnamon, red pepper and bay leaf.  Add the tomatoes with their juices and mash well with the bottom side of a wooden spoon or a potato masher until they're falling apart and mixing with the other ingredients well.
Add tomato paste, red wine vinegar and light brown sugar, stir and bring to simmer on medium-high heat.  Let it cook down, stirring frequently until the sauce reduces to a thick, jammy consistency.

Once the cauliflower is roasted and the lentils are done, gently stir the florets into the lentils.  You may need to add some salt to taste to the lentils after cooking- I did.  Serve the lentils & cauliflower mixture over the brown rice and top with a generous helping of the tomato jam.

Free-for-All edition: Meaty: This to me is a quintessential weeknight meal, so if you're trying to be a workweek vegan leave as is. But if you wanted it on the weekend, or if your man just "has to have meat," you could top with pan-seared or roasted sweet Italian sausage links.

Dinner is served!