This slow cooker lentil stew combines red and green lentils with zucchini, celery, tomatoes, petit purple potatoes, chickpeas and mustard greens finished with fragrant spices and coconut milk for a touch of creaminess for a hardy, warming, easy dinner!
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Nature’s Greens. The opinions and text are all mine. The product mentioned in this post was sent to me as a gift to use in this recipe, thank you so much!
Dear Lentils,
I’m so sorry that I haven’t included you more into my diet and that for some unforeseen reason I forget about you. You are so perfectly delicious in so many dishes, and yet I seem to put quinoa or rice above you. Shame on me.
In all seriousness, I really do need to keep lentils a front runner in my recipes, especially because they are a great source of protein. I suppose I didn’t really have lentils growing up much, so perhaps that’s why they aren’t my go-to legume. But let’s make 2020 a year for more lentils!
I decided to make this perfectly warming gluten-free, plant-based vegan Lentil Stew recipe in my slow cooker, because we just happened to have plans that interfered with my evening cooking schedule. So I just threw the lentils, and all the vegetables into my slow cooker in the morning, went about my day and then when we got home, dinner was waiting for us! Have I mentioned that I don’t use my slow cooker nearly enough?!
Now, as you can see, there’s so many wonderful vegetables happening in this Lentil Stew. There’s zucchini, tomatoes, petit purple potatoes, and chickpeas combined with both red and green lentils, just because I thought it would be fun to have both. But the other dark horse in this recipe that we must not ignore, is mustard greens!
Y’all know I love my greens, but admittedly I rarely have mustard greens. Lots of new things happening for me in this meal, lol! So when I was developing this recipe for Nature’s Greens, I welcomed their suggestion to try their mustard greens in this recipe and I can report with pleasure that these greens were a perfect match for this Lentil Stew.
Mustard greens, if you haven’t had them, have a particularly strong mustardy, peppery flavor. But don’t let that scare you away from including more of these greens into your diet. They are loaded with vitamins K, A, and C- and prove to be quite the notable “underdog”. #moveoverkale And Nature’s Greens Mustard Greens are pre-washed and ready to eat, which makes this meal even easier to throw together.
There’s a couple different things to keep in mind for making this Lentil Stew. 1- If you don’t have a slow cooker, that ok, you can still make this recipe stovetop, but gurrrlllll go get yoself a slow cooker! *snap haha 2- if you like your vegetables more on the crisp side as opposed to the mushy side, feel free to cook those in a skillet and add them in prior to serving. I actually did both. I split the veggies up and cooked some in the slow cooker with the lentils and then added the rest on top (after sautéing), almost as a garnish.
And speaking of garnishes, I topped my Lentil Stew with vegan parmesan cheese and hemp seeds, as if this meal couldn’t kick butt any more. Serve with bread if desired, but it’s definitely not a meal maker, because this Lentil Stew is fantastic all on its own. Store leftovers in the fridge and enjoy for lunch for a few days afterward because the leftovers are pretty fantastic too.
Before you go get your stew on, head over to Nature’s Greens to locate their mustard greens in a store near you! I hope you enjoy this comforting Lentil Stew as much as my family and I did and keep it on your winter menu rotation! Also check out my (No) Chicken Noodle Stew for more stewy situations ;). And if you make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram or Facebook (I love seeing all your re-creations!).
Lentil Stew
This slow cooker lentil stew combines red and green lentils with zucchini, celery, tomatoes, petit purple potatoes, chickpeas and mustard greens finished with fragrant spices and coconut milk for a touch of creaminess for a hardy, warming, easy dinner!
Ingredients
- 1 cup red lentils (rinsed very well)
- 1 cup green lentils (rinsed very well)
- 2 cups zucchini (chopped)
- 2 large tomatoes (chopped)
- 4 stalks celery (diced)
- 3-4 cups mustard greens (I used Nature's Greens)
- 2 cups petit purple potatoes (diced), or other petit potatoes
- 1 can chickpeas, drained
- 32 ounces vegetable broth
- 1 can (13.6 oz) coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt, more to taste if desired
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper, more to taste if desired
Garnishes
- vegan parmesan cheese
- hemp seeds
Instructions
- Drain and rise your lentils in a fine mesh strainer according to package directions, usually until the water runs clear.
- Turn on your slow cooker and add the vegetable broth.
- Next add the lentils.
- Dice the zucchini, tomatoes, celery, and potatoes
**NOTE: if you like crisper veggies, you can set aside half the zucchini, tomatoes and celery and sautee them in a skillet with olive oil and add to the stew upon serving - Add the vegetables to the slow cooker, along with the chickpeas, mustard greens, coconut milk, and all the spices. Stir to combine.
- Cook on high for 4-6 hours.
- Serve garnished with vegan parmesan cheese and hemp seeds.
Notes
** You can also sautee the veggies in a skillet prior to adding to the slow cooker if deisred, but not necessary.
** If you're making this recipe stovetop, cook the lentils according to package directions and then just add all the ingredients to a large stock pot. I would saute the vegetables prior to adding to the stockpot and let the stew simmer on low until most of the liquid is absorbed and it's more of a stew consistency as opposed to a soup, although I bet it would be great as soup too! (Recipe has not been tested this way)
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