Lentils... Perfect for Winter

I've started volunteering at Our Big Kitchen, henceforth to be known as OBK. Everyone there is selfless and so generous with their time. When I was approached to help out with school kids who come in once a week...I couldn't say no. I am teaching them to make healthier food.

Every week, they have kids from one of the schools come in to do community service. They learn to make a dish, or sometimes just cookies, that's then packaged up and delivered to either the women's refuge or Matthew Talbot.

Yesterday was my first "class". The weather is still quite VERY cold, so, after going through the pantry to see what was on offer, I decided on a red lentil and vegetable stew.

About a dozen 13-14 year old girls arrived. WE donned aprons and hair nets and I got straight to business.
I explained the nutritional value of lentils and was surprised only one of the students had never tried them.
They set about chopping all the vegetables as small as they could. The lentils had already been soaking overnight, which was a huge help, seeing as they need to be soaked and washed very well. Lentils, like all legumes and beans, should be  if not soaked, washed well to remove dirt and small stones and reduce the phytates, which inhibit the body from absorbing essential minerals.

Lentils are low in calories and contain

• iron -  helps the transportation of oxygen from the lungs to various parts of the body
• folate - helps create red blood cells
• magnesium - essential for heart, nerve and muscle functions and proper functioning of the immune    system. It also builds strong bones and improves circulation of blood and oxygen in the body.
• protein - of all the legumes, seed and nuts, lentils have the third highest level of protein. 

Now, here's the recipe for the stew we made. I'm not good with quantities, so eyeball it for the amount you want to make. Also, it freezes well and is a great meal to have on hand when you come home late, or just can't be bothered cooking.
Another thing...I used the vegetables that were available at the time. If I were making it for myself, I'd also add kale, pumpkin, sweet potato. Add the ones you love...

Ingredients

Red lentils (soaked overnight and rinsed well)
Leeks
Garlic
Carrots
Capsicum
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Parsnips
Vegetable Stock
Oil (I used coconut, but whatever you want)

Method 

Chop all the vegetables quite small
Cover the bottom of a saucepan with oil and heat it.
Add leeks and garlic and stir for a couple of minutes
Add rest of vegetables, stirring occasionally, until they cook down a bit. You may need to add more oil.
Add lentils and stock.
Cover with more water if needed.
Bring it to a boil, then let it simmer.
Let everything cook and the lentils absorb the water - stirring occasionally
Depending on the amount of stock you've used, you may need to add some salt.
After about 40 minutes, everything should have cooked down.
If you want to eat this as a soup, make sure it's more watery.
If you want it as a thicker stew, either get a hand held blender and blend it in the pot, or wait until it cools down and pour it into a blender.
It'll become quite thick.

This dish can be eaten alone, or as an accompaniment to a meat or fish dish.

ENJOY xxx