Squash, Lentils & Greens - A Stratakopita of Sorts

Its a lot of putzing around, but pretty easy. Its great as an entree or a side to anything wonderfully roasty.

Yield: 6 entrees, 12 sides
Veg as written, easily "vegan'd"

1 cup dried green lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 large yellow onion, small dice
10 cloves garlic, 4 bonked, 6 minced
2 black cardamom pods, seeds only (or 3 green cardamom, or 1 t ground cardamom)
1 t sage
1 bay leaf
3 cups water or stock
3 cups butternut squash, large dice (about the size of dice)
1.5 inches of fresh ginger root, peeled and minced or 1.5 teaspoons of dried ginger
1 big bunch of dark stinky greens, washed, dried and chopped
8-10 big white mushrooms (or any kind you prefer), small dice or slice is good
1 t rosemary
4-6 oz feta or goat cheese (some sort of wonderful smokey pork product would be great here if you're into that)
1 package of phyllo dough, thawed (or use lasagna noodles, puff pastry, even planks of eggplant)
4 T butter melted (or olive oil if you prefer vegan...er and leave out the cheese)
salt, pepper, olive oil

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 450 or so.
2. Cook onions in butter or oil over medium heat until soft (5-8 min), add minced garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute or until fragrant. Reserve half of the mixture in a small bowl.
3. Add a bit more fat to the pan, toss in the lentils, cardamom and sage and stir to coat, cook about 3 minutes and then add bay leaf and stock or water to cover by about an inch. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until lentils are just tender. These guys will go in the oven too, so don't over do them. Should take about 30 min. You want them to be pretty dry at the end so they don't sog out your phyllo.
4. Toss squash, ginger, bonked garlic cloves and s/p in olive oil to lightly coat. Spread in one layer on a sheet pan or in a pyrex and roast until just tender. Squash will continue too cook once out of the oven, then return to the oven, so you don't want it to be soft. About 10 minutes should do it. Stir once or twice during cooking. Remove from oven when done and set aside. Reduce oven to 350*.
5. Heat a little fat in a large saute pan, add the reserved onion mixture and get it going again. Add mushrooms and cook until soft, about 8 min. Add the rosemary and then the greens a couple of handfuls at a time, along with a bit of water and then cover the pan to wilt. Repeat until all greens are wilted and mixed with the mushrooms and stuff. S/P to taste.
6. Assemble your strata or lasagnakopita or whatever it is. Brush the bottom of a 9x12 baking pan with melted butter. Lay 1 piece of phyllo in the bottom of the pan. (Cover the rest of the phyllo with a damp cloth) Brush lightly with butter and place another sheet of phyllo. Repeat until you've got 6 layers of phyllo.
7. Check the seasoning and then spoon in the lentils - there should be very little liquid at this point. Spread them into an even layer and top with 4-6 more sheets of phyllo and butter. Spoon in the suqash, spread into an even layer...remove the garlic cloves unless you're into that. Layer with 4-6 more sheets of phyllo and butter. Evenly distribute your greens and mushrooms in a nice layer, dot in the cheese and top with 4-6 or more sheets of phyllo and butter. Pop it in the oven and bake about 15 min until it looks nice.
   

Let stand a minute or 2 and serve.

Or...if this is too much foffing about, cook the lentils and greens as above, half an acorn squash and roast at 450* cut side down on an oiled sheet until tender (20-30 min). Sprinkle with ginger, fill with lentils and serve along side the greens.