Orange, Gold & Green Lentil Stew

After working all day, I was really hungry and wanted something substantial, but hadn't prepped anything for a fast finish.  There was a photocopy of a recipe a friend had sent to me for a lentil stew with cumin seeds. Well, I didn't have any cumin seeds, and in fact only half the recipe seemed to be in the photocopy! So I felt completely free to invent the following. I started a small pot of short grain brown rice. It took about 40 minutes to make the stew by which time the rice was ready, and I had a chance to throw together a delicious salad. Lucky for us, there's a quart of leftovers to get us through another late night this week. You can definitely add more heat and spice with more red pepper flakes and cumin. If you do happen to have cumin seeds, roast 'em up and toss them on the top!

Orange, Gold & Green Lentil Stew

3/4 cup green lentils
1 sweet potato
1 yukon gold (or other) potato
3 medium carrots
1 medium-large onion (2 cups chopped)
1 (or more) tomatillo
3 cloves garlic
8-15 stems cilantro - 3/4 cup chopped
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin (ground)
1/2 tsp more or less red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups or more water

1. Chop onion, garlic, tomatillo and water saute about 10 minutes in about 1 cup water in a medium saucepan, with cumin, red pepper flakes, mustard seed (whole), and salt.  Stir occasionally.
2. Meanwhile, chop both potatoes, the carrots and cilantro, and add to pan with lentils and water. Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer. You can half cover this to speed the cooking but do not fully cover the pan. This will need about 30 minutes.
3. Stir occasionally, add more water if needed. Test the lentils for doneness. Salt to taste.

Orange, Gold & Green Lentil Stew Nutrition Facts for One Quart 2 Servings  (900g) (makes 2 quarts) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 500 25% Total Fat 2g 3% Saturated Fat 0g 2% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 292mg 12% Total Carbohydrate 98g 33% Dietary Fiber 32g 127% Sugars 15g 0% Protein 25g 50% Vitamin A 84% • Vitamin C 77% Calcium 17% • Iron 46% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Red, White, Green & Black  Salad
The salad was so beautiful and fun to eat that I couldn't resist putting an image here. What's in it?
enoki mushrooms cut into 3 segments; fresh pea shoots also cut into thirds, baby arugula, scallions chopped into small bits, big black organic grapes de-seeded and halved, and about 5 slices of "watermelon radish" cut into slivers. A light dressing of tarragon vinegar with garlic and salt was the perfect foil for the stew with rice.