Saturday 2 June 2012

Lentil Quinoa Stew

 
I love when bloggers share simple every day recipes.  I love it even more when I can tick off the ingredients against what is in my kitchen.  So it was that I found myself making K's favourite Lentil Quinoa Stew recently.   It went down very well, even with some of my quirky changes (was the mustard too sharp?  would a spoonful of tahini have helped?).  My main complaint was that it only served 2.  When I make it again I will increase the quantities because it is just the sort of stew that keeps well for leftovers.

I haven't used much quinoa lately.  I was glad to use up the black quinoa and suspect that it gave the stew quite a different look to K's photo.  As we ate dinner, I was surprised that E had heard of quinoa.  Not from hanging around food blogs.  That isn't his scene.  Surprisingly he knows of it because one of his favourite Kraut rock bands, Tangerine Dream, have a CD called Quinoa

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: Shoots, Eats and Blogs (Top 10 List)
Two years ago: Mock Tuna (Chickpea) Salad
Three years ago: Apricot Crumble: a moveable feast
Four years ago: Bagels, Boiling and Baking
Five years ago: WHB: Reconciliation damper, snags and dead horse

Lentil Quinoa Stew
Adapted from La Dolce Vegan via In the Mood for Noodles
serves 2

1 small onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 celery stalk, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1/2 green capsicum, diced
2-3 garlic clove, minced
2 and 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup dry red lentils
1/4 cup quinoa
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp seeded mustard
1/2 tsp chilli paste
1/2 tsp salt
1 medium tomato, diced
1 tablespoon lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)
1/2 cup parsley, chopped (I didn't have this but I put in a handful of baby spinach)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes

Fry onion in olive oil in a medium saucepan until translucent, stirring occasionally.  While it is frying, cut up celery, carrot, green pepper and garlic and add to the pot as they are done.  Stir for about 5 minutes once the vegies are in the saucepan.  Add the stock, lentils, quinoa, oregano, mustard, chilli past, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until lentils are tender.  Blend about half the soup (I briefly blended with a hand held blender so it wasn't all smooth).  Stir in tomato, lemon juice, parsley (or spinach), nutritional yeast flakes (and tahini).

On the Stereo:
Cosmic Jokers (self titled)

9 comments:

  1. Wow that was quick. Glad you enjoyed it. I forgot to add that I always double the recipe but then I always double all recipes that I make so that there is leftovers for lunch the next day.

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    1. Thanks K - easy to try a recipe that isn't too demanding - am sure I will return and continue to tweak and have leftovers next time

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  2. oh. yum! that stew looks so hearty and delicious! i've recently started experimenting with putting quinoa in soups, and i LOVE the texture it adds! i bet this is WONDERFUL with the lentils! i'll have to try this recipe soon! thanks for sharing!

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    1. thanks GF happy tummy - quinoa in soups is great - I don't do it as often as I should - one of the reasons I liked this recipe!

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  3. I also love it when people post everyday recipes, because they are the ones that I am likely to make in a timely manner! It's also nice to see ideas for tweaking things I already do, but do in a slightly different way. In this case, I now want to try cooking the lentils and quinoa together (for some reason I have never done this) and including mustard seed and nutritional yeast.

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    1. Thanks Kari - I don't usually mix lentils and quinoa but have managed it twice in a week (also in sausage rolls). I think seeing how people tweak recipes is one of the interesting things about blogging

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  4. Ooh, mustard! I like that riff on more standard-ly-flavoured stews :) And pretty bowls!

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  5. Looks like a great stew. I'll have to file this away for when our weather gets cooler!

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  6. a quick google search of "lentil quinoa" led me to this... i wasn't sure what to do with the 2 ingredients and now i am making this! looks great, i can't wait to eat it

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