How to make easy lentil stew with veggies

Gather your ingredients and get ready to prep.

Mince/chop garlic, dice onion, and chop the celery/carrots/and potato to your liking. Go ahead and get the can opened and peel the opening of the chicken broth. Better than fumbling with it later.

Start by sautéing the onion on medium-high with EVOO until slightly brown and translucent. About 2-3 minutes.

Add your garlic and continue to sauté for another minute.

Now add your veggies. I drizzled a bit more oil to prevent from burning.(those are potatoes although they look just like sausage link...I'm sure you could add that too and it would be yummy.)

Add a good dash of Italian seasoning (or herbs de province if you have it). Continue to sauté for a couple of minutes.

At this point I added a splash (about a tablespoon) of red wine vinegar. It gives it a nice subtle balance of acid to cut the richness of the lentil and potatoes.

Now add the lentils, tomatoes(juice included), the entire box of chicken broth, and water. Stir. Now bring to a boil.

This is Aloe seasoning that I got at the Asian store. It's a cross between vegetable bouillon and msg. Except it contains no msg. You can also try mushroom seasoning. But I use this in place of salt.

I added about a tablespoon of the aloe seasoning and a few splashes of both soy sauce(for depth) and fish sauce(for depth and umami). Don't be afraid to use fish sauce in non-Asian dishes.

Now that it's come to a boil, cover with a lid and lower the heat to a simmer( 3 o'clock on the dial). Stir about every 20 minutes or so but keep covered for about 1.5 hours. Adjust the seasoning .

You will LOVE the marriage of flavors and textures and colors! Nobody will even know there is fish sauce in it.

Serve over some quinoa for the perfect healthy dinner! Meatless!