Lentil Stew

After many years of eliminating beans from my eating plan, I have recently added back in a few healthy choices. There are so many opinions of what is healthy and what is not healthy that I won’t even pretend to be any kind of expert in that area. But here is what I learned - as I researched legumes and beans, it seemed that organic lentils continually showed up at the top of the list for healthy beans and legumes. Of course, what works for you as an individual is always top of the list, some people have a hard time digesting any kind of beans.

Lentils are an excellent source of dietary fiber, protein, B vitamins and many other important vitamins and minerals. There is also some evidence that they can help reduce blood sugar, improve cholesterol levels and help maintain a healthy gut. Eating beans and legumes also provides variety to your sources of protein rather than depending solely on meat, and the use of beans/legumes, when farmed properly, can be more environmentally friendly.

That said, let’s cook some delicious lentil stew!

INGREDIENTS -

1 cup organic lentils
2 cups carrots, diced
2 cups celery, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup frozen peas
4 cups baby potatoes, quartered
2 cups sliced or quartered mushrooms
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
6 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp coconut aminos (soy sauce replacement)
2 tbsp olive oil

To soak or not to soak? I hadn’t cooked with beans for quite sometime but there was a vague memory that you should soak dry beans overnight prior to cooking? Google gave me mixed answers (again), I chose to soak. I placed the lentils in a bowl of water in the morning to soak for several hours before meal prep.

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a heavy pot or dutch oven and bring to medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for about 2 minutes, releasing the flavors. Add the celery, carrots, and potatoes to the pot and continue cooking for another 3 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and cook for another minute. Then stir in the vegetable broth, lentils, rosemary, thyme, dijon, and coconut aminos.

Stir everything to combine, then turn the heat up and bring the ingredients to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. The potatoes should be soft after 30 minutes, stir with a slotted spoon or fork and mash some of the potatoes a bit to thicken the stew. Add the frozen peas and simmer for another ten minutes to warm through. Now it’s time for a taste test and to add any salt and pepper you might desire.

If desired, top with some chopped parsley and a dollop of yogurt, or sour cream.

Have you ever made your own vegetable broth? It is great to have around for recipes like this and it is a fun experiment to try if you haven’t made it before. Save your vegetable scraps in a bag in your freezer and the ingredients are always on hand. Here is a link for all the details to make your own broth. Yum!!