Cheesy Lentils

A friend and I developed this recipe as something that he can eat after gastric bypass surgery. It has lots of protein and is relatively easy to digest. Plus, it's really good!

• Ready In: 1 hr 10 mins
• Serves: 10-12

Ingredients

• 1  cup red lentil
• 2  cups green lentils
• 2  bunches scallions, chopped on the diagonal into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 -2  cup shiitake mushrooms or 1 -2  cup  other mushroom, roughly chopped
• 1.5 (14 ounce) jars  cheese sauce (see note)
• 2 -4  tablespoons olive oil
• 6  cups water
• 2  cups  shredded cheese (we used Cheddar)
•  fresh coarse ground black pepper or  grains of paradise
• 1  cup  instant rice (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat your oven for 350°F.
2. Heat olive oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven. Saute scallions on medium heat for about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute for about 3 more. Now add all of the lentils, and stir them into the sauteed veggies till thoroughly mixed. Turn up the heat to high and add the water.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low and cover the pot. Let cook for about 20-30 minutes, till the green lentils are tender. (The red ones will turn into yellow mush. This is desirable).
4. Remove from heat and drain everything in a colander.
5. Tranfer lentils to either the pot you were just using, or a casserole dish if you're not using the instant rice. (The rice will absorb some liquid and provide for a firmer texture. The recipe works fine without it, though).
6. Add 1.5 jars of cheese sauce (we used Ragu Parmesan Mozzarella) to lentil mixture, and mix thoroughly. Spread evenly in your casserole dish.
7. Sprinkle/grind pepper or grains of paradise over the top, as desired. Top everything with shredded cheese.
8. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. At this point, the cheese will be melted. Now turn your oven up to broil/500F and let broil for 5 more minutes. Now the cheese topping will be a lovely toasty brown. :) Remove from oven and serve.