Lentil Stew with an Oriental Twist

Hey Awesome Ones!

I really love all types of legumes, especially beans and lentils, and I eat a lot of them because they can be prepared in thousands of ways and are just so tasty and give your body so much nutrients.

They're especially important in a vegan or vegetarian diet because of all the protein, fiber, zinc, magnesium, potassium... They're also rich in "slow-burning" carbs, which means they give you plenty of energy, keep you full for a long time and don't make you fat.

Types of lentils

I cooked this one in the Multicooker, so I'll also give you the variation for cooking in on the stove.

The Oriental hint comes from the cumin, so if you like the aroma (like I do), you can be generous with it :) It becomes even more exotic if you use red lentils, but I used green lentils, as these are the most common variety here in Bulgaria and I can get cheap, quality, locally grown produce.

So, hear, hear, tasty lentil stew with an Oriental twist :)


INGREDIENTS:

300 g (ca. 3 cups) Lentils 
1/2 cup Rice
2 Carrots, diced
1 medium to large Onion bulb, chopped
2 cloves of Garlic, cut in larger pieces
1/2 (or more omnomnom!) can of Tomatoes
1 tb.spoon Olive oil
3-4 cups Water


Savory, salt, cumin and fresh parsley to taste 


No matter if you're using the Multicooker and the stove, you need to rinse both the lentils and the rice. The latter you need to keep rinsing until all the white stuff (which is starch) stops coming out and the water becomes clear. If you're cooking on the stove, you may want to soak the rice in cold water for about 20 min before cooking it. With the Multicooker this is not necessary.

PREPARATION:

Multicooker

It's so simple, that it's almost unfair.

Just put everything except the parsley in the Multicooker, set the program to STEW and cook for 2 hours. Check it at some point to see if it needs extra water - the texture should be stew-like (duh) - don't let it roast!

After the stew is ready, top it off with some fresh parsley :)

Stove

Put the olive oil, onions and carrots in a cooking pot and saute until the veggies are softer but not cooked yet.

At this point, it would be good if you had warmed the water, but if you haven't, you can just add it to the pot.

Add the lentils, rice and tomatoes and cook for 15-20 min after the water has started boiling. Good thing is that lentils and rice have approximately the same cooking time.

While the water is boiling, add the spices except the parsley.

Check the texture while cooking, you may need to add or remove water.

Remove from the stove when ready and top with fresh parsley.

My lentil stew :)

Enjoy! :)

With love,

Your Tomato Monster