Lentil And Rice Stew

When temps are this low (-12F this morning in Minnesota), a nice, hot bowl of stew helps to keep you warm. There is just something comforting about spooning up that hot stew and tasting all the flavors that come together after cooking for awhile.

While I usually think of stews as having some kind of meat in them, this version is vegan. I do cook a lot of vegan meals because meat tends to be expensive. If you would like to add meat, andouille sausage would be a great addition to this stew. A whole pot of this stew cost me about $1.50 because all the veggies were free.

I had a bunch of veggies that I wanted to use up from last week's load while helping Sister's Camelot and what better to use them in a stew! I just decide to use whatever I had and throw them in the pot. Had two sweet potatoes, carrots, onion and some garlic. A friend of mine had given me some veggie stock last year and I had one more jar so I threw that in. Lentils and rice are always something I have in my pantry. This time, I used some brown lentils, but I also have some green lentils. I wouldn't recommend using red lentils for this stew.



Lentil and Rice Stew

1 cup lentils
1 cup rice (either brown or white)
1 15 oz can of stewed tomatoes
1 6oz can of tomato paste
1 quart jar of veggie stock
3 cups water
1 large onion
1 or 2 sweet potatoes
2 cups of chopped carrots
5 cloves garlic (or to taste)
cumin to taste
turmeric to taste
pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste (optional)

Dump everything into a stockpot and bring to a boil. Lower temperature and let simmer until rice and lentils are done, adding water if necessary. If you like, you can cook this down until it is thick and use as a filling in a burrito.