Easy baked potatoes with lentil baked beans

I have to admit, I do genuinely enjoy cooking and if I have visitors coming for food, I could spend hours pouring over recipes, trying to create the perfect menu to suit everyone, and then lose a day in the kitchen literally cooking up a storm.  But on an average weekday evening, when everyone is tired from school and work, all I want is simple, nutritious, easy to prepare dinners, that don’t have an encyclopaedia of ingredients needed. 

I know there’s many wonderful ideas out there for how to have a “batch cook” day so you just have to move prepared food from freezer to oven, or slow cooker recipes that turn from a bag of ingredients into a dish worthy of Michelin standards whilst you are at work.  But neither do I have a slow cooker, nor do I want to spend half my weekend preparing meals for during the week.

Today was one of those day’s ridiculously busy days where I hardly had time to think.  By the time I got home it was late, I was tired and my son wanted affection and some Mammy time.  I needed something that took very little preparation time, but I also needed some comfort food.  The first thing I found were some lovely white organic potatoes (I emphasise the organic part as I tend not to eat the skin if they’re not, but tuck in greedily when they are).  I gave them a quick rise, wrapped in tin foil, and popped in the oven.  I then went to change into some loungewear and helped my son do the same.  We played some hide and seek and after half an hour, I went back to the kitchen.  Looking aimlessly through the fridge and cupboard, I then decided to try to make some sort of “lentil baked beans” to go with my comfort-inducing baked potato. 

I quickly chopped up one glove of garlic and added to a pot with one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and left to simmer for a minute whilst I chopped a white onion.  I added that to the pan and sautéed until soft and fragrant.  I then added in about 100g split red lentils to pan, and stirred to mix all the ingredients together.  I poured in 300ml of vegetable stock and added 2 tbsp. of tomato puree and left to simmer for 20 minutes whilst I returned my attention to my son. 

At that stage I gave everything a stir and added in a tbsp. of soy sauce for that extra saltiness. I took the potato out, sliced down the middle and filled with my lentil “beans”.  I always feel guilty if I don’t have something green on my plate, so I quickly chopped a handful of baby spinach and put this on top.  Once it was mixed through the lentils, the heat wilted it and it was actually a nice accompaniment. 

Not the prettiest of dishes but so comforting, wholesome and filling! And the icing on the cake – there was plenty of leftovers for another day.