Frugal Foodie Friday - Lentil and Vegetable Stew

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a recipe that I originally tested as a possible contender for a spot in our SNAP challenge menus. Unfortunately, our participation in the challenge ended before I had the opportunity to share all those recipes with you. Some of them were quite good, so I thought I'd take the occasional odd Friday to feature the best of them here on One Perfect Bite. While lentils are not to everyone's taste, they are very filling and when combined with rice they form a complete and inexpensive protein. Each time I work with them, I find myself wishing they had greater eye appeal, so, I try to mask their drab appearance with brightly colored vegetables. It helps a bit. I've made very few changes to the original recipe, which came from Taste of Home magazine, but I have changed the length of time some of the vegetables cook. I've added the spinach near the end of the cooking time in order to keep it green and lovely. Twenty minutes in the pot will turn it black and black spinach will not help improve the appearance of the brown lentils. I learned that one the hard way, as you can tell from tonight's photo. This is a very easy dish to prepare and you can have it on the table in 45 minutes or less. If you share your kitchen with a committed carnivore, as I do, add a bit of smoked sausage to his portion and I think you'll both be happy. This simple and inexpensive dish is very, very nice and I do hope you will give it a try. Here's the recipe.

Lentil and Vegetable Stew...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Alice McEachern and Taste of Home magazine

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic, minced
5 cups water
1 cup lentils, rinsed
4 teaspoons vegetable or chicken bouillon granules
3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf
1 cup chopped carrots
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 to 3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
3 cups cooked brown or white rice

Directions:
1) In a large saucepan, heat oil and saute onion until tender. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add water, lentils, bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, salt, thyme, pepper and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes.lentil
2) Add carrots and tomatoes and return to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add spinach and continue cooking five minutes longer, or until lentils are tender. Stir in vinegar and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve over white or brown rice. Yield: 6 servings.

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