Be My Guest

So, my lovely sister is in town, and I am being spoiled rotten. She is playing with my kids, tidying my house and so far, cooking every dinner we have eaten together for a week. And I don’t mean wieners and beans here, folks, I mean glorious stir-frys, salmon patties, robust soups and last night, ridiculously amazing tacos, filled with homemade pseudo refried beans, a tofu-corn succotash kind of thing and pineapple salsa. I did mention that she’s supposed to be MY guest, right?

I think I had better pull myself up by my apron strings, and get hostessing. I’ll start tomorrow, and I think I’ll do something in the slow cooker, so that we can enjoy a day of gallivanting together and return home to dinner at the ready. What’ll it be? Ribs? Chicken? Chili? All good options, but I’m going to try something new; something that my uber-healthy sibling will definitely approve of – lentil stew. Only problem is that I’ve never made it in the slow cooker before, and I don’t actually have a recipe. I’m pretty much just going to do what I do once a week on the stovetop for an hour, and hope it works in the slow cooker for six.

A green salad and crusty bread or pita will complete the meal, and voila, I’ve stepped up to the plate and ensured that, for one day at least, my guest will not have to also be the cook. And hey, what’s the worst that can happen? If the meal ends up being sub-par, my guest will get all big-sister on me, and regain the food-making reigns, guaranteeing that I am fed by my personal chef for the remaining days of her visit. Either way, it sounds like a pretty tasty proposition

Kgirl’s Slow Cooker Lentil Stew

2 cups Bob’s Redmill Lentil blend (or any blend of lentils + barley, tiny pastas, whatever)
4 cups water/veggie broth/combo of the two
2 carrots, cut in chunks
2 parsnips, cut in chunks
handful whole, small mushrooms
2 leeks (whites), sliced
Salt
Pepper
Fresh or dried herbs as preferred

Combine all ingredients in large slow cooker, and cook on low 4-6 hours. Impress your big sister. Oversalt/undercook if you don’t want to impress your big sister so that she’ll do the majority of the cooking for the next week.

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SoundBite
Lentils are one of the healthiest foods in the world, packing a ridiculously dense nutritional punch. There is TONS of fibre, magnesium and folate in lentils, each of which greatly reduces the risk for heart disease, while helping stabilize blood sugar levels. In one cup of lentils, you’ll also be getting close to half your day’s recommended consumption of protein, magnesium, tryptophan, copper, vitamin b and potassium. If you don’t like lentils, learn to.

 

Comments

[No Mother Earth]

I'm a big fan of lentils, but the husband won't eat them and the kids would just look at them and refuse to eat them. Any tips on how to introduce them to the kids, at least?