Lentil Stew

First of all, please forgive the (moreso than usual) poor photography.  Somehow I was extremely organised today and managed to eat my test serve and box up the remaining serves for freezer lunches and only take one photo.  And it was with my iPhone. 

That being said, it was incredible and it needs to be shared.

I was de-gluten and dairy-ing my kitchen yesterday and I discovered that I had many many tins of lentils.  My plethora of lentils got me thinking.  I've seen many a blogger make lentil stew but I couldn't find any in my Diigo bookmarks.  I googled my way back through lots of posts but ended up finally seeing something that struck my fancy in Eat, Drink and Be Vegan by Dreena Burton.

I started with Dreena's recipe for Lentil "Sniffle" Soup.  I didn't want a soup, I wanted a stew but I thought it couldn't be too difficult to adapt.

Lentil Stew
adapted from Eat Drink and Be Vegan by Dreena Burton

a splash of olive oil
2 cups diced onion, carrot, celery and garlic (I had these precut and in the freezer)
another carrot, diced
half a massive zucchini, diced
half a cup capsicum, diced
a small head of broccoli, cut into small florets
a handful of beans, cut in half
an ear's worth of corn kernels
some sea salt and black pepper
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tbs baharat seasoning
1 tsp Italian seasoning (has thyme, basil, rosemary and stuff in it)
1 can lentils
1 cup cooked brown rice
2 cups vegetable stock
a big handful of kale
a big handful of baby spinach
2 1/2 tbs apple cider vinegar
a dash of worcestershire sauce
a dash of lime juice

Put all the ingredients up to and including the Italian seasoning into a saucepan and cook over medium heat until vegetables start to go tender.  Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 10-15mins.  Adjust seasoning to taste.

I couldn't be happier with how this turned out.  The apple cider vinegar and the lime juice gave the stew a great complex flavour and even though there was only a minimal amount of curry powder it had a nice kick that really cleared the sinuses.  It's filling and full of goodness, a perfect lunch.