Kid-friendly, budget-friendly Lentil Stew

[velvetpage]

At least, this was friendly to my kids. YMMV.

2 cups water
1 cup broth
1 can tomato paste
1 cup cut-up, cooked meat (I used leftover roast; there's no reason why leftover chicken wouldn't work equally well)
4 carrots, chopped, or about a cup of frozen carrots
1 cup frozen peas
1 1/2 cups chopped cabbage
1/2 cup barley or quinoa or rice (I used barley)
1 cup red lentils (if using green ones, you'll need to cook it longer)
salt, oregano, and a bay leaf, all to taste; pepper is not a favourite of my daughters so I left it out.

Variations: Got a quarter cup each of four different frozen veggies that's just slightly past the point where you want to use them outside of a stew? Toss them in. Ditto with last night's leftover beans. This stew is the-more-the-merrier.

Throw it all into the pot and cook until everything's tender. Makes a lot. This is the first time I've gotten my kids to eat lentils without a fuss. Serve with a slice of bread. Recipe would likely be just fine without the meat, especially if your grain of choice were quinoa. Moreover, this recipe is extremely cheap: you can feed a family of four on it for two nights running for under five bucks.

I'm off to cool this down and freeze it in 1 1/2 cup portions for (my) school lunches. I'm working on a bunch of similar easy lunches that I can pull out of the freezer and microwave for lunch.

Comments

[idemandjustice.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna have to save that and try that some time after I get to the store again.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to steer away from meat-based meals, because Piet's health is such that less meat is a really good idea. It doesn't hurt that it's cheaper! So I'm learning to use quinoa and lentils and beans in ways my kids are willing to eat. It's all in the flavourings; if it tastes vaguely like spaghetti, they'll eat it. :)

[idemandjustice.livejournal.com]

We need to try to switch to leaner meats, ourselves (I just can't give it up completely, and according to some opinions, my blood type shouldn't give up meat). But I don't need meat in every meal, and this sounds yummy. Maybe with some fresh baked bread to go along with it. Yay carbs.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

My kids were quite happy to dip bread in it, and it's thick enough that you can use a heavy bread as a spoon. It would probably work with pitas, too.

I probably could give up meat now, since I'm no longer in posession of an iron-depleting baby-factory organ. But I don't want to. I like meat. I'm quite okay with reducing its quantity and making more sensible use of it, though. Like, a meat-based meal one night followed by a meat-as-a-flavouring or vegetarian meal the next night would work for me.

[idemandjustice.livejournal.com]

My husband actually used to be vegetarian, and he went back to the dark, meat-eating side when I was pregnant with Simon, just so it would be easier to cook family meals. I admit I'm pretty relieved. I pretty much was vegetarian too during that time, because it's just not practical to cook separate meals just for one person all the time.

[kores-rabbit.livejournal.com]

Hooray for getting some lentils in them! :D

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Thanks for introducing me to the red lentils - I didn't know they were easier to cook!