Vegetable Lentil Stew

I threw this together yesterday when I had a bunch of random veggies in the fridge. I added curry powder for the "Indian" touch, even though the curry powder sold in grocery stores here is NOT Indian. Anyway.... This stew came out delicious and very easy to put together. I served it with broiled sourdough bread spread with garlic butter.

Use whatever veggies you have on hand, but I used the following:

1 medium onion -- chopped
3 medium carrots -- peeled and chopped
1 rib of celery -- chopped
Handful of frozen corn and peas
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
teaspoon of freshly grated ginger (I keep mine in the freezer. It keeps forever and it is so much easier to grate when frozen!)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 jalapeno -- minced (seed it if you don't want it too spicy)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp curry powder
2 C water or stock
1/3 C red lentils -- rinsed and sorted
salt and pepper to taste


Heat oil in a saucepan. When hot, add the onions, carrots, and celery. Cook until the onions are soft. Add the ginger, garlic, and jalapeno. Stir for a couple of minutes. Add lentils. Cook for another five minutes. Stirring occasionally. Add the curry powder, salt, and pepper. Stir until fragrant. Stir in tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover for approximately 40 minutes. Add frozen vegetables and continue to simmer until frozen vegetables are warmed through and the lentils are tender.