After the Pavlova I made yesterday, and the rather glutinous lifestyle that ‘C’ and I have been leading the last month. We decided (or rather I decided, and am forcing ‘C’ along on the ride) that today we are going to get back on track of our health kick again. This includes daily trips to the gym and of course healthy meals.

The basic recipe for this lentil stew is one that I found on a blog a couple of months ago, I copied and pasted it into my word documents and filed it under ‘recipe’. The only problem is, I didn’t record who’s blog it belongs to. So, if for some reason you stumble upon my blog and recognise this recipe as your own…please let me know and I will gladly give credit where credit is due!

Anyway back to the stew – this is not only a filling and robust stew, but one packed full of nutrients as well. What is even better, is that it is so simple to make and prepare that it is perfect for a mid week meal. The ingredient list may look slightly daunting due to its length – but the majority of the list is made up of spices, so feel free to add or eliminate spices according to your taste. I personally added some more of my favourite  – cumin. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried lentils
• 4 cups water
• 1tsp salt
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 2tblsp vegetable oil
• 1tsp chilli powder
• 1tsp coriander
• ½ tsp cumin
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• 1 large onion – chopped
• 250ml canned tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves – chopped
• 3tsp fresh lemon juice

Directions

Place lentils, water, salt and turmeric in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.

Meanwhile heat the oil in a frying pan, add chilli powder, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper and onions and cook until the onions soften.

Add the garlic, lemon juice and canned tomatoes (I used tomato puree as I had no canned tomatoes at hand) and cook for a further 3 to 5 minutes. As always taste and see if you want to add any more seasoning.

Add the onion-tomato mix to the lentils and stir. Continue cooking the lentils until they are cooked through, or until you get the desired thickness of the stew.

Garnish with coriander or a dollop of sour cream (but we are not, as we are being good) and serve hot!

PS. As you can see from the photographic evidence…I did cave in and did add some sour cream – but that was solely for enhancing the quality of the picture – not because it is soo good and adds that lovely element of creamy richness ;)