Du Puy Lentils with Carrots and Spinach -- Continuing Crockpot Adventures

It was a rainy Monday, and our fridge was bare. It seemed like a good idea to do some cooking. We got the crockpot going, roasted some fennel and beets for a salad, made a polenta, and baked four dozen oatmeal raisin cookies. And then we danced. In the rain. A la Singing in the Rain. Just kidding. Sort of.

The thing I enjoy about a crock pot is that aside from the chopping and measuring, no work is involved, and magic happens. Ingredients go in, and food comes out. So great.

This dish has a nice flavour, and gave us a nice variation from the tomato-chickpea  kick we've been on. And it goes very well with the latest polenta dish. (My son is eating the tomato polenta for breakfast as I write this. Second breakfast actually. He thinks he's a hobbit.)

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
1 tbsp garlic, finely minced
1 small onion, finely chopped, approx 1/2 cup
1 1/2 cups diced carrots
1 1/2 cups du Puy lentils
1/2 lb finely diced roma tomatoes (aka plum tomatoes)
3 cups filtered water
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp marjoram
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp allspice

1 1/2 cups diced asian sweet potatoes

150 g chopped spinach


directions:

1. turn on the crockpot to HIGH and set for 6 hours
2. layer the ingredients as follows:
a) coconut oil
b) garlic
c) onion
d) carrots
e) lentils
f) tomatoes
g) salt, marjoram, bay leaves, all spice
h) water
g) sweet potato
(reserve the spinach for after the heat is turned off)
3. after the dish has finished cooking, turn off the heat, and stir in the spinach

Voila. It is done. Ingredients go in, food comes out. Cool beans.

This would be a great dish to serve with crusty bread ...

Adzuki Bean and Vegetable Stew -- The New Crockpot Adventures

The amazing thing about a crackpot -- er, crockpot -- is that if you have a few minutes to load it up, it will do all the work for you, regardless of how busy your schedule is. Now, hitherto, I have often pre-sauteed the more potent elements such as onion and garlic. This time however, not only was time quite pressing, but I also thought it was time to get over my fear, and allow the crockpot to do its thing. A benign and benevolent key makeup artist had wrapped me early from work one day, and I decided it was the perfect opportunity to get the crockpot going so there would be dinner for the next couple of nights when I would certainly be home very late in the evening.

I'd been keen to try out adzuki beans in the crockpot, because although they are larger than a lentil and are not a split pea, they are 'soaking optional'. I also thought it would be fun to throw in some barley -- however for those who are gluten sensitive or intolerant, please substitute your favourite short, whole grain rice for the barley.

My son and I both like this hearty concoction very much. My husband, who seems to have the tongue of a super-taster, is not so keen. It does have a bit of a stronger flavour. It's probably the cauliflower that is at fault. I personally can't taste the cauliflower, and certainly can't rule out the adzuki's, the barley, or the wild rice for the 'earthiness' of the flavour, Colin often turns up his nose at dishes that contain cauliflower even if  he doesn't know it's there. Sigh.

How cute are adzukis? Seriously. They are adorable! If you are not a fan of cauliflower, you can definitely substitute something sweeter. Perhaps a combination of chopped tomato and sweet potato? Mushrooms and eggplant? Beets? Kolrabi? Whatever tickles your fancy.


ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
2 tbsp finely minced garlic
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 diced carrot
1/2 cup diced celery
125 g cauliflower, divided into florets (frozen organic works well) -- about 1 cup

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

3/4 cup adzuki beans
1/4 cup barley (or short, whole grain rice for gluten free option)
2 tbsp wild rice
2 tbsp small brown lentils

1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp marjoram
1 tsp chili powder
black pepper

3 -3 1/2 cups water

125 g peas (frozen organic works well) -- about 3/4 or 1 cup

75 g spinach, chopped (frozen and defrosted works well)


directions:

turn on the crockpot to medium

layer the ingredients into your crockpot as follows:
1. coconut oil, garlic, and onion + 1/2 tsp sea salt sprinkled on top
2. cauliflower + 1/2 tsp sea salt sprinkled on top
3. carrots and celery + 1/2 tsp sea salt sprinkled on top
4. adzuki beans, barley, wild rice, and lentils, + 1 1/2 tsp sea salt, marjoram, chili powder, and black pepper
5. pour on 3 or 3 1/2 cups of water, careful not to disturb your layers
6. pour your peas on top of the water
7. cook for 6 hours on medium (I just turned mine on and went to bed. It turned itself off after cooking).
8. when finished cooking, stir in the chopped spinach.

Baked Vegetable Stew -- Nemesis to the Rescue

peasant food, anyone?

Ah, Nemesis, my old friend. I always enjoy cooking with my enameled cast-iron casserole. The metal holds the heat so it cooks the food in addition to the heat of the oven cooking the food, and the enameled finish cleans up easily. It's also pretty. And really, really heavy.

I decided it would be fun to experiment with this cooking pot, but I think this recipe would work equally well in any large casserole. Or even a dutch oven, provided it was oven safe.

I made a rather large quantity, because I was working with some rather large vegetables, and hey, I'm lazy and don't want to have to cook again for a couple of days. Plus I like stocking my freezer with meals  that just need to be heated up. But this recipe can easily be halved.

I whipped up a loaf of bread that rose while the casserole was in the oven,  and then baked on the same temperature. I personally am a big fan of fresh bread and vegetable stew, but if you're not, you could always eat it by itself, with quinoa, with rice, whilst tap-dancing, on your balcony, or with Parisian spies dressed in Versace.

The bread recipe I used was the same as from my post for Very Good Bread. It's our favourite, and seems to be pretty much idiot-proof, which means I don't screw it up even when my mind is on other things and I make mistakes.

So, if you are a fan of vegetable stew and fresh bread, you might like to eat like we did tonight. It was very tasty.

ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup cashews

1 tsp sea salt

2 cups Du Puy lentils

1 tsp sea salt

4 medium sized carrots, thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)

2 large sweet potatoes, cut into cubes (about 4 cups)

1 acorn squash, cut into cubes

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp herbe de provence

1 1/2 cups water +1/2 cup left over tomato sauce (or 1 and 1 or 2 and 0 or 0 and 2 etc.)

300 g package of organic frozen spinach, brought to room temperature

directions:

1. preheat your oven to 345

2. put the coconut oil in your pot or casserole, and put it in the oven for just a few minutes as it's preheating to liquify the oil

3. put the onion, garlic, cashews and 1 tsp of salt into the oil, and stir around

4. layer the 2 cups of lentils next, and sprinkle with another tsp of sea salt

5. layer the carrots next

6. layer the sweet potatoes next. I used my fabulous purple ones, as you can see in the picture

7. layer the squash next, and sprinkle the 3rd tsp of sea salt on top.

8. sprinkle 1 tbsp of herbe de provence on top of the squash

9. pour your water or water and tomato sauce or pure tomato sauce mixture over the squash

10. put the lid on, and put the casserole in the oven

11. bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 345, depending on your cooking dish

12. when it comes out, stir in your room temperature spinach and put the lid back on, but don't return to it to the oven

13. put your bread in the oven to bake

14 serve the stew with bread, baby tomatoes, and carrot medallions. Or a side salad. Or a slightly sardonic smile.

This tasted very good, and is one of those dishes that will also improve in flavour by the next day. I'm definitely going to jar some of it for future meals when I don't have the ingredients or time to cook from fresh.

Du Puys Lentils and Brown Rice

Home alone is not always the title of a Macaulay Culkin film.  Nor am I cute or blond. However, I was home alone yesterday afternoon, my art class cancelled, with some paintings to finish and dinner to make. So, I threw some stuff in a pot, and hunkered down with my canvases. This dish would lend itself very well to a slow cooker. If I'd only thought about dinner at breakfast! Alas, I didn't think about dinner until mid-afternoon, and this only took 50 minutes to cook, plus about 10 minutes for prep. Very tasty, rib-sticking, complete meal in a bowl. And Colin, who once informed me if it wasn't pasta, it wasn't going to be delicious, declared it to be "yummy comfort food". There is no higher praise ;) And most importantly, I had plenty of time to work on my paintings.

Now there are a couple of important things to realize before you make this dish. First of all, not all lentils are created equal. I used the Du Puy lentil, which is so cute and so special, that you will forever after forget the names of all your former lentil friends. And the brown rice we use is so short grained that it's nearly round. It has a chewy deliciousness that is completely unlike the dry, long grain rice I grew up on.

Also there is a reason I use frozen spinach. I keep packages of organic frozen spinach on hand at all times, because I use spinach when I make pasta or green muffins, because it's not always easy to find organic greens at the super market, because it's easy to cook up super fast with a little sea salt and coconut oil for a yummy side dish, and because it's convenient. Spinach is a good vege to try to use organic, because it's one of the worst offenders for toxic chemicals when conventionally farmed. I like having some basics on hand so that I can throw dinner together without a trip to the grocery store. Such as this one! I did happen to have a some organic carrots, and organic broccoli stems on hand (I'd roasted the crowns for dinner earlier in the week). Crowns wouldn't work in this recipe because of the boiling time involved, but the stems work a charm after you peel off the outer woody sheath. Now, please admire my super macro rice and lentil pictures before you continue to the recipe. ;) 

Thank you.

Our favourite brown rice is so short of grain that it is nearly round. We tend to prefer California brown rice such as calrose.

The very adorable and distinct Du Puy lentil is a tiny, flavourful pulse that eclipses the large, pale green lentils most of us are most familiar with. Perhaps harder to find, but well worth the effort.

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Du Puy lentils

1 1/2 cups very short grain brown rice

5 1/2 cups filtered water

2 medium carrots

3 stems from broccoli stalks (you know, the part that's left when you cut the crowns off)

150 grams of frozen spinach, set aside to defrost

2 tbsp vegetarian bouillion powder (we use organic Harvest Sun, the vegetarian, yeast free one)

a pinch or 2 of sea salt

a little freshly ground black pepper

1 or 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

4 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

directions:

1. put the rice, lentils, coconut oil, vinegar, bouillion powder,  and water in a medium sized pot

2. put the pot on the stove, and bring it to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat, and set the timer for 50 mintues. It should be on a simmer for the duration of the cooking.

3. chop the carrots into small pieces

4. peel off the woody sheath from the broccoli, and chop the broccoli into small pieces

5. add the broccoli, carrots, salt, and pepper to the pot

6. when the spinach has defrosted, chop it finely

7. when the rice and lentils are fully cooked, remove from heat, and stir in the spinach.

8. serve with alacrity. Or with grape tomatoes and carrot medallions (we prefer medallions to sticks around here, and definitely prefer tomatoes to alacrity).

This is a very flavourful dish, but in a way that is appealing to young palates. The cooked vegetables inspire a sweetness in it, and the savoury seasoning balances all the flavours well. My son ate about half of his before even pausing for breath.