This blog has a strict Recipe-First policy.
You will need:
- 2T olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1/4 small cabbage, thinly chopped
- handful of asparagus, cut in 1 to 2 inch lengths
- 1 Delicata squash, cleaned and diced
- 2c diced tomatoes
- 6c vegetable broth, water, or other stock
- 2c brown lentils
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1t cumin
- 1t oregano
Directions:
Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, add onion and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onion starts to caramelize, about 3 minutes.
Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about another minute.
Stir in cabbage and a pinch more salt and cook until cabbage starts to char a bit, about 3-4 minutes.
Add all the other ingredients (yes, all of them) and cover pot to bring it to a boil. Crack the lid and reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15-20 minutes until lentils are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Serve over rice or with a crusty hunk of sourdough, or both!
And there you have it. Now that the recipe is out of the way, lets talk about this easily-modifiable meal. The ingredients I used for todays version were literally just things I had lying around in my pantry and fridge. I love making this meal because its quick, easy, and its really good at using up whatever bits of produce I have left over from other projects. I highly recommend just using ingredients that you have available to you instead of going to the store specifically for the ones Ive listed, but if thats how you want to do it, I will tell you that my favorite version of this meal is made with either sweet potato or butternut squash instead of Delicata, and kale instead of cabbage. If you do use kale, skip the charring step and just fold the chopped kale in at the end to keep it from wilting into mush. You can also add sliced carrots to this recipe; if you do then add it at the cabbage step.
Theres really just a few easy steps to this recipe and you can mix and match any number of vegetables to make it work. Just divide up the produce into saute-ables and boil-ables and plug them into the recipe accordingly. You could add broccoli in the charring step, or add pumpkin with the liquid. Just be confident about it and nobody will know that you just made it up (or brag about it, up to you).
Lets talk about salting the onion and the cabbage while cooking. This is a little trick I found that helps caramelize certain foods while you saute them. The salt pulls the water out of the veggie, and with that water comes the natural sugars found within. These sugars react chemically with amino acids at high temperatures and create the sexy browning and those amazing flavors that were after (this is actually known as the Maillard reaction; caramelization is when the sugar itself browns).
I hope you enjoy this stew as much as my family does, and definitely try to make it with whatever you have at home instead of heading to the store. Recipes are really just guidelines, anyway.