Spicy Lentil Tomato Stew
"This is a thick, fragrant, and hearty stew. Very satsifying on a cold day, very good for you, and very cheap. Can't really ask for more than that from a single recipe."
- Ready In:
- 50mins
- Ingredients:
- 16
- Serves:
-
6
ingredients
- 1 onion
- 2 stalks celery
- 1 carrot
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 2 cups dried lentils (brown or green)
- 1 (15 ounce) can chopped tomatoes
- 4 cups chicken stock, warmed
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- fresh ground black pepper
directions
- Optionally, you can soak the lentils in cold water before you start the prep for this. Drain them before you add them to the soup.
- Mince the onion, celery, and garlic. Peel and mince the carrot.
- Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, for 6 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minutes.
- Sprinkle on the spices, and stir.
- Make a space in the middle of the pot, and add the tomato paste. Mix everything together until a thick paste forms.
- Add the chopped tomatoes with their juice and stir.
- Add the chicken broth and water and stir.
- Add the lentils. Bring to a boil, then back the heat off to a simmer. Simmer for 30 - 45 minutes, stirring often.
- Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice, and puree to desired consistency. (I like it left slightly chunky.).
- Add pepper to taste.
-
POSSIBLE GARNISHES:
- Lemon zest / freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Plain yogurt blended with salt, pepper, and chopped parsley or cilantro.
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Reviews
-
I didn't have any celery or carrots, but this was still great! Very thick and filling. Tumeric and cumin are probably two of my favourite spices. -
This had a wonderful flavor (I did use fresh instead of canned tomatoes and subbed veggie stock for the chicken). Unfortunately though, this lost a lot of its appeal, visually and texturally, after I pureed. I will make this again, but will not puree.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I'm a programmer by day, bread baker by night. To make a living, I do process automation for management at an inbound call center. (It's really not as exciting as it sounds.) Actually, I enjoy my job. There are worse things I could be doing to finance my cooking / baking habits.
I never really knew how to cook growing up. Some of you in the Breads and Baking forum have heard my disastrous story about making Nestle Toll House cookies...
When I went to college and moved out of the dorms, I started to become interested in actually learning how to cook. I had a lactose intolerant boyfriend, and a limited budget, so it made sense to stop eating take-out pizza and Taco Bell every day. I have to credit The Dairy Free Cookbook by Jane Zukin as my first real guide. (I still cook out of it , even though the boyfriend is long gone!)
With that as a start, I set about systematically teaching myself how to cook.
Five years later, I'm getting a reputation from friends and family as being a good cook. I love baking bread from scratch (I could really become a sourdough freak - thanks Donna!) - I can't seem to make enough cinnamon raisin swirl to keep my mom and grandmother happy. I'm enjoying getting back to eating seasonally, eschewing over - processed prepared food in favor of simpler, healthier, better tasting, cheaper meals I make myself. When I set out to learn, I never imagined I'd be making stock, roasting whole chickens, baking bread, or shopping at our local farmer's market. Now I can't imagine going back to the way I used to eat.
I hope someday to learn enough about bread baking to open a local bakery/cafe, somewhere in Westport or Downtown Kansas City. I love my city, and the kind of place I have in mind will be a place that gives back to the community. I want to leave this city a better place for my having been here.
Here's my standard metric for how I review recipes here, because I want my reviews to be helpful and consistent:
***** Fantastic as is. Wouldn't change a thing and will make it often.
0**** Fantastic tweaked a little to suit my tastes. Will make it often.
00*** Had to tweak it alot to get something I would make again.
000** Not very good. May try tweaking it again at some point.
0000* Not good. Probably won't try making again, even with tweaks.
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