Here is a Quick and Easy dinner recipe that contains 3 out of 10 of Oprah / Dr Perricone's touted "Superfoods" These are 10 of a larger number of healthy foods that they recommend due to such things as high levels of antioxidants and other healthy properties. Instead of trying to buy your Superfoods in a pill like lipovox let's try cooking them up the old fashioned way.
This Red Lentil and Vegetable Stew recipe contains lentils, onion & garlic, and red pepper sauce, three of the 10 super foods. It also has the additional benefits of being quick to cook, and cheap to make. Red lentils, unlike their green cousins, cook in about 30 minutes. They get very soft which is also great for me because I can't eat too much high fiber (due to the IBD.) It also happens to taste really good.
This recipe is also very flexible - you can add or leave out various veggies to your liking. The carrots, celery garlic and onions are the base and you can go from there. If you don't have Vegetable or Chicken stock just use water, that's fine. You can also add white wine, sherry, or even a little apple juice or cider vintager to the liquid. Definitely double the recipe and make a big pot. This freezes well.
Serve this with a green salad and some fresh baked bread and butter and its a feast.
Red Lentil and Vegetable Stew from RecipeZaar
Recipe #82568 | 40 min | 10 min prep
By: Jim Cortina
Wonderful stew, can be a vegetarian meal on its own. Or you can add some diced or shredded smoked duck, if you like meat. The red lentils break down, and cause this to be like a really rich soup. If you need to stretch this out, you can serve it over white rice, to do a sort of "beans and rice" thing.
SERVES 2 -3 (change servings and units)
Change to: Servings US Metric Close
Ingredients
* 1 cup red lentil
* 1 carrot, finely diced
* 1 stalk celery, finely diced
* 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock
* 4 teaspoons ground cumin
* 3-4 dashes Tabasco chipotle pepper sauce (optional)
* 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 14 ounces canned diced tomatoes (do not drain liquid)
Directions
1. Sauté the carrots, onion, and celery in the olive oil until they start to caramelize a bit.
2. Add the garlic about a minute before the vegetables are finished sautéing.
3. Add the red lentils, and stir until mixed with the vegetables.
4. Add the stock, tomatoes and juice, cumin, and Tabasco, if using.
5. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and reduce heat to medium low.
6. Simmer until the lentils are tender, about 25 minutes.
7. If the liquid all evaporates and the lentils are not done, add a little water to keep the simmer going.
