Cooking: 3-veg and halloumi bake

no meat in sight...

(In lieu of an introduction: There are plenty of documentaries on TV showing the risk to the food supply if we continue to eat meat at the rate we do. While I don't intend (yet) to become vegetarian/vegan, I am conscious of the unsustainability of eating meat (and to a certain extent dairy products, for that matter) at the current rate. During a recent such episode shown on BBC, I was appaled to see in real terms (i.e. in actual meat mass) how much we consume on average. The conclusion, to which I fully agree, is straight-forward: the only sustainable solution requires a large reduction in the quantity of meat we consume. Eating less meat will put less pressure on the planet, is more healthy and will also promote a better farming system - improved animal well-being, and less but better-quality meat for the carnivores among us.)

All this to say that I've been trying more and more meatless recipes to reach this decrease in my own consumption of meat: I give you a heart-warming, vegetable-packed, rough but oh, so tasty bake! 

0 points for presentation, but for taste...

3-veg and halloumi bake

(recipe adapted from Tinned Tomatoes)

2 onions, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 red bell peppers, chopped

1 aubergine, in cubes

1Kg potatoes, in cubes

-- and yes, potatoes are vegetables! (botanically at least)

250g lentils

500g can tomato sauce (I used one with olives)

500ml vegetable stock / water

4 tbsp tomato puree

salt and pepper / persil / coriander

250g block Halloumi cheese, cubed

Preheat oven at 200 degrees C.

Parboil the potatoes.  

In a large, deep pan, lightly fry onions and garlic. Add peppers and aubergine and keep stirring until they are soft.  Add tomato sauce, puree, lentils and stock/water.  Mix well and bring to boil, then simmer for another 20 minutes. Add condiments to your taste.

Pour mixture in oven dish, add the potatoes and top with halloumi.  Bake for about 20 minutes, until cheese is golden brown.

This is proper mouth-watering food, comforting and soul-soothing... Dig in and enjoy the last days of summer!

This post is my entry into Weekend Cooking, a weekly event hosted by Beth Fish Reads. For more information, see the welcome post.