Eat to Live: Indian-Spiced Red Lentil Stew

Dr. Fuhrman often calls his Eat to Live plan the “soup and salad diet.”  It’s true!  A huge salad with lots of raw veggies, fruits and raw nuts should be the main course and a fiber-rich, bean-based stew should be our side.  Often, I will make a big pot of bean stew on Sunday to easily heat up for the rest of the week–then all I have to make is my fresh salad.  For the pic above, I had 1 cup of brown rice with some leftovers of this Indian-Spiced Lentil stew and topped it off with “Not So Cheese” which is a vegan cheese-sauce made with raw almonds (see here for recipe) and a sprinkle of raw chia seeds.  Follow me on Instagram and Pinterest for more Eat to Live recipes weekly!  Recipe at end of post!

The Nutritarian plan aims for getting one pound of cooked veggies per day.  This lentil stew uses onions, carrots, parsnips and celery, to pack in those cooked veggies and extra phytonutrients into your diet!

One of my major health breakthroughs when I started the Eat to Live plan, was learning to cook without oil.  You will be amazed how all your favorite dishes can be made by water (or veggie broth) sauteing instead of using nutrient-vacant, high-calorie oils.

The flavors of this red lentil soup are courtesy of healthy doses of curry powder, dried dill weed, garlic powder and nutritional yeast.

INDIAN-SPICED RED LENTIL STEW (makes 8 to 10 servings–VEGAN, EAT TO LIVE)

Ingredients:

• 1 medium yellow onion diced
• 2 cups chopped carrots
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 5 large mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1 8 oz. can diced tomatoes (no salt added)
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp. powdered garlic
• 2 tbsp. curry powder
• 3 tbsp. dried dill weed
• 16 oz. bag Trader Joe’s Split Red Lentils (or comparable brand)
• 32 oz. veggie stock (low sodium preferred, I used trader Joe’s brand)

Directions:

1. Pour about 1 cup of veggie stock into the bottom of a large stock pot, set on high heat.  Add parsnips and water saute on high for 5 minutes, add carrots and celery and continue to cook on high for another 2 minutes (add more stock if evaporating too quickly).  Add onions.
2. Reduce heat to medium-high.  Add 16 oz. of red split lentils and coat with cooked veggies and allow to cook for 5 minutes over medium-high heat.
3. Add the rest of your veggie stock (you can add water if you’d like your stew a bit more brothy), can of diced tomatoes and reduce to medium heat.  Stir stew well and cook uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add mushrooms and spices, stir well and reduce to low heat.  Cook an additional 10 minutes, covered.