Everyone’s gotta have a lentil stew. If you don’t know, now you know.
Lentil soups & stews are a vegan’s go-to Winter recipe. I come across so many on Pinterest, yet I’ve kept this one for many years, subbing veggies recently, and adapting the recipe to accommodate more servings. I only realized recently that when I used to make this, I used canned lentils, which wouldn’t have required the 50 minutes cooking time that this one does, using uncooked lentils. <Forehead slap> Amateur moves!
The soy sauce throws me back to Filipino flavours I grew up with, and I’ll include the original recipe for homemade croutons that I don’t make anymore, if you’re bold enough to mix your grains with proteins.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 chopped garlic clove
1 onion, cut into chunks
1/2 sliced carrot
Seasoning mixture: 1/4 tsp each of dried garlic powder, paprika, sea salt, cumin, oregano, basil
1/8 c soy sauce
2 c vegetable broth
1.5 tomatoes, cut into chunks
3/4 c uncooked red lentils
Optional: 1 zucchini, diced
Combine the spices in a small bowl. Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onion, and carrot. Stir in half the seasoning mixture and the soy sauce. Cook, stirring frequently for 7 minutes or until the onions are tender. Add 2.5 cups of water, the vegetable broth, tomatoes, and lentils. Boil on high heat, then reduce and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the remaining seasoning mixture and zucchini, if using, and cook for 20 minutes longer. Serves 3-4. If desired, garnish with croutons and a drizzle of olive oil.
To make your own croutons, pan-roast a piece of vegan bread, cut into cubes, with olive oil until toasted.
Tips:
- For 2-3 more servings, add another serving of lentils and 1 more cup of water.
- The original recipe for this had 1 celery stalk instead of zucchini. If using celery, mix in with the garlic, onions, and carrot.
- The original recipe for this had 1/2 potato, cut into chunks, but I prefer not to mix carbs with the lentils, especially if you’re garnishing with croutons. If you do want to use potato, mix it in with the garlic, onion, and carrot.
