Lentil and Vegetable Stew
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp black mustard seeds
- 1-2 small onions, finely chopped
- salt and pepper
- 3 gloves garlic, minced
- 2 inch piece of ginger, minced
- 2 potatoes, chopped into 2 cm cubes
- 6-10 carrots, chopped into med. size pieces (I cut them in half lengthwise, then cut wider pieces)
- spices, such as coriander, cumin, turmeric, smoked paprika
- 2 cups lentils
- 4+ cups water
- 1-2 cups each of green beans, zucchini and kale (or other green vegetables)
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 1 bunch cilantro, saving some for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the oil in the pan at med-low heat, then add the mustard seeds.
- Once the mustard seeds start to pop, wait another 30 seconds (but don’t let them burn!) before adding the onion.
- Let the onion cook until mostly translucent, then add the salt, pepper, garlic and ginger and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Add the potatoes and carrots and saute for another few minutes.
- Add spices if you wish and cook for another few minutes. I usually add a very small amount of coriander and cumin (1/8 tsp) and about 1/2 tsp each of turmeric and smoked paprika. I’ve made this without adding any spices at this stage and it’s still delicious.
- Next, add the lentils and water. I usually add a little more than twice as much water as lentils. But then I usually add more water later if needed.
- If using a pressure cooker, put the lid on and cook at low pressure setting for 5 minutes. Then reduce the pressure and remove the lid.
- Add the green vegetables and cook at look pressure setting for an additional 1-2 minutes.
- The final step is to add the lemon juice and salt. This is probably the most important step for flavour as the lemon brings out all the other flavours of the dish. You can also add cilantro at this stage (I always do, but not everyone loves cilantro as much as I do).
- Garnish with cilantro.
