Stuffed Lentil Stew

"Thick comfort food. This is very fast to throw together and an excellent way to get my kids to eat their veggies. A one pot meal. Serve with a crusty thick bread and don't eat too much...easier said than done!"
 
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Ready In:
1hr 15mins
Ingredients:
15
Serves:
10
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ingredients

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directions

  • Brown ground turkey or LEAN beef with chopped onion, carrots and 1 stalk of sliced celery in pan (ingredients 1-4). When browned, DRAIN INTO A SEPERATE BOWL, RESERVING JUICES from pan. If you used more than 90% fat ground beef, then skim all but 1 TB of liquids (try to skim off only the fat) and discard. Set pan back on burner to heat on med-high.
  • While first four ingredients are browning, put your washed lentils in a large stockpot and add water, tomatoes & beef broth (ingredients #5-8). Cook, covered on high until boiling, then turn to medium-low until so thick a simmer is more appropriate. Remove lid while simmering. STIR OFTEN or as it thickens it will stick and scorch. When first 4 ingredients have been drained, add them to the stock pot along with extra stalk of thinly sliced celery and celery leaves.
  • To heated pan, add last ingredients (#9-13) and cook on high (deglaze) while scraping and whisking for 1 minute or until hot. Then, add to stockpot and stir all well and cook about 30-45 minutes, stirring often.
  • If you want to add in the orzo or Acini-de-pepi pasta, do so during the last 10 minutes of simmering and do not use flour or cornstarch to thicken becuase the pasta will zap all the liquid out of the pot. When we use pasta we always add at least another 1- 1/2 cups of water to the pot cause we like a little stew juice.
  • Optional-sometimes for whatever reason the final result is not as thick as I would like when we don't use the pasta. When this happens, I seperately combine 1-2 TB of flour or cornstarch to 1/4 cup of cold water and stir resulting mix in VERY SLOWLY and cook five minutes longer. This thickens it nicely. Also, we season to taste in our bowls because in our family we have babies (no seasoning) and then there are spicy-lovers. I love to add chipotle tobasco and mesquite seasoning to this. We eat this once every two weeks. It is definately a staple and always makes enough for leftover night.
  • I make this vegetarian with good results too, I just leave out the meat, sub vegetable broth for the beef and extra onion and carrots when I do -- and I always use the pasta when making this nice vegan meal.

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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I've lived in several states, and they have all added a bit of "flavor" to my culinary preferences. I love comfort food and as I've aged, I seek ways to make old favorites more healthy. For me, healthy is defined by what we have learned about gut health over the years. I no longer cook the way I used to, but I still crave those old favorites. It's quite likely that something I posted here more than a decade ago is no longer made in my kitchen, or has been greatly altered to fit our new model. I appreciate it when people take the time to post great recipes because the internet is so much quicker and convenient to use than my stash of cookbooks, cherished as they are. I also appreciate reading reviews that people post, providing they are actually helpful. I just don't understand rudeness, competitiveness and the like and wish people didn't feel the need to inject negative attitudes into all the positive. I feel a site like this one can help many people and it's a great way to collaborate and share treasures in our kitchens. I'm glad to have access and to be a part of the community.
 
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