This rich, thick stew will taste like you spent hours making it, but it comes together quickly with frozen vegetables and canned lentils.
I’d hoped to be sharing a Halloween recipe with you, but life has been getting in the way of cooking lately.
The other night I went into the kitchen to make a last-minute dinner of my Dirty Little Secret Soup but wound up making so many changes that it took on an entirely new character. I had about 2/3 of a cup of leftover pumpkin puree that I wanted to use up, so I changed the other ingredients and seasonings to complement it. And do you know what happens when you add pumpkin and quinoa to soup? It thickens so much that it’s not soup anymore but stew!
The recipe is ridiculously easy because I used frozen vegetables and canned lentils, but if you want to do it the slow way, chop your own veg and cook your own lentils. I’m sure fresh ingredients will make this flavorful and deeply satisfying stew even more delicious.
P.S. I may still get around to creating a Halloween dish, but until then, check the bottom of this post for links to vegan Halloween treats.
Ridiculously Easy Lentil and Vegetable Stew
Ingredients
- 1 large onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic cloves minced
- 2 12-ounce packages frozen vegetables* (or 2 pounds fresh vegetables cut in bite-sized pieces)
- 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes (preferably fire-roasted)
- 1 15-ounce can cooked lentils (or 1 1/2 cups cooked lentils and cooking liquid)
- 4 cups vegetable broth or “no-chicken” broth
- 1 1/4 teaspoon Mexican oregano (or regular oregano)
- 1/2 teaspoon hot smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/3 cup quinoa rinsed very well
- 2/3 cup pumpkin (canned or cooked and water pressed out)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the onion in a large, non-stick Dutch oven until it begins to brown. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for another minute. Add next 7 ingredients and cook until vegetables thaw and broth begins to boil.
- Add quinoa and cook on medium heat until it is tender, about 15 minutes. Add pumpkin and salt and pepper to taste and cook for 5 more minutes, adding a little water if it seems too thick. Serve hot, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
For a Spooktacular Vegan Halloween:
- Spooky Black Bean Hummus on this blog
- Pumpkin Cookies on this blog
- Witches Fingers at Novel Eats
- Ghastly Tortilla Chips & Ghoul-camole at Manifest Vegan
- An Orange and Black Halloween Menu from Robin Robertson
- Two Savory Halloween Treats at VegSpinz
- Healthy Halloween Cookie Dough Balls from Oh She Glows
- Healthy Raw Halloween Recipes at Happy Raw Kitchen
- Raw Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes at Rawdorable
Please pin and share!
Collette Osuna
November 7, 2010 at 8:57 amHello…..for some reason I wasnt subscribed to your feed!! I just fixed that STAT:)
Love your blog….being a vegetarian…its sometimes hard to find different meal ideas:)
Thank you!
Stop by and say Hello ♥
Enter my Awesome ModCloth Giveaway
Elaine
November 7, 2010 at 5:31 pmThis is really easy and really good. I have been having it for lunch and it is very satisfying.
Jen @ LitasWorld
November 7, 2010 at 10:49 pmCongratulations!!! I’m so happy for you!! This recipe is just what is called for this week in this house…sounds so very yummy!!
I’m going to look in to going to the vegan blog conference in August!! Thanks for sharing the info on it!
Vibeke
November 8, 2010 at 11:04 amSupper tonight! Thanks for posting!
Angela (Oh She Glows)
November 8, 2010 at 11:28 amCongrats Susan on your award! That is such an honour! 🙂
Also thank you for the link shout-out about my Halloween dessert.
Aussie Fi
November 8, 2010 at 9:00 pmCooked this the other night for me and my carnivore partner. We both loved it…..when I suggested it become a weekly meal, carnivore replied “Oh for sure babe!”.
Great mid week pick me up with all the vegie’s. I used fresh vegie’s (capsicum, carrots and zuchinni) and cooked for 20mins.
Can’t wait to have it again!!
Congrats on the blog win- you deserve it!!
JOSH L.
November 9, 2010 at 8:38 pmThanks for the recipe..do you know how to adapt this to a pressure cooker? I love using the pressure cooker in order to save time so if anybody has figured it out would appreciate it.
Sheva
November 11, 2010 at 7:42 pmThis stew looks amazing. Can’t wait to try this recipe myself!
Michelle J.
November 12, 2010 at 11:26 pmThis is an amazing recipe! I cooked the stew tonight for a ladies fellowship that I hosted at my home. Everyone raved about it! I gave you all the glory for the recipe and directed them to your website for more fabulous, healthy recipes. I will be making this very often! Thanks for a wonderful dinner recipe!
Carolyn
November 14, 2010 at 11:27 amThanks for the recipe!
Just made it and substituted lentils with kidney beans. Also didn’t have the smoked paprika, so I added a bit of harissa and red wine vinegar to bring out the flavours. Delish!
Laura
November 15, 2010 at 7:41 pm🙁 I tried this and mine really didn’t thicken at all. I have a nice pot of watery soup with some vegetables. I can’t figure out what I did wrong. Advice?
SusanV
November 15, 2010 at 8:19 pmI don’t know what went wrong, but you could try to thicken it by adding more quinoa. Hope it turned out edible anyway!
Carla
November 16, 2010 at 2:01 pmTruly delicious! Raves all around. Used Better than Bullion “No Chicken” broth…my new favorite ingredient. Plus veg I froze from the garden this summer and about 3/4 cup of lentils cooked in 2 cups of water (turned out to be more than the recipe called for, but used it all). Anyone could make this and enjoy.
This will be a new staple in our meal rotation.
Thanks!
Vegan In the Kitchen
November 16, 2010 at 10:26 pmCongrats on your award! You deserve it. I look forward to hearing you speak in Portland. 🙂
Lindsay@Another Almost Vegan Blog
November 20, 2010 at 6:30 pmCongratulations again!!!!!! You deserve it.
I’m going to have to try out this strew. I love lentil soups, I love quinoa, and I love pumpkin…I’m interested to see what they’d all taste like together.
Pam
November 21, 2010 at 3:36 pmTried this yesterday and it was wonderful! I used regular smoked paprika with no cayenne, which gave it a nice smoky taste but no spicy heat. My DH loved it. Perfect dish for a rainy cold Saturday. Thank you, Susan.
Cyn
November 22, 2010 at 4:31 pmCan’t wait to try this recipe. One question about the quinoa… should it be cooked or uncooked? I’m fairly new to quinoa and when I see it unspecified in recipes I’m never sure if I should use cooked or uncooked. Thanks!
SusanV
November 22, 2010 at 5:39 pmHi Cyn–It’s uncooked quinoa in this recipe. It cooks in the stew. Hope you enjoy!
Kim
November 23, 2010 at 6:03 amMade this last night and it was exactly as stated-ridiculously easy. Was also really tasty. I can’t get quinoa so used bulghur. Also didn’t have time to pre-cook the lentils so just added them and cooked dish a bit longer. Thanks again Susan for a wonderfully easy and healthy recipe.
Kim
November 23, 2010 at 6:19 amMade this last night and it was exactly as stated-ridiculously easy. Was also really tasty. I can’t get quinoa so used bulghur. Also didn’t have time to pre-cook the lentils so just added them and cooked dish a bit longer.
Re-heated the leftovers for my three year old twins’ lunch today and one said “yum yum”. The other “I love it!”.
Thanks again Susan for a wonderfully easy and healthy recipe.
Fiona
November 26, 2010 at 12:02 pmI thought this soup was pretty good, and my fiance really liked it. It’s definitely good enough to make again, especially considering how easy it is. I could barely taste the 1/3 c. pumpkin so I kept adding more and more until finally the whole can was in the pot. I was happier with that anyway since otherwise I would have had 2/3 can of pumpkin to toss out. I used a 3 grain blend from Trader Joe’s that included quinoa and I think next time I would add a little more grain to the soup because it didn’t seem there was much in there. I also didn’t cook it as long as the directions state because I felt my vegetables would be overcooked. So I basically added the grain very soon after the frozen vegetables and then added the pumpkin during the last 5 minutes of cooking time. So the total cooking time went down which made this recipe even easier!
Fiona
September 8, 2011 at 6:01 amJust made and enjoyed this recipe again! I made it a bit differently this time but it came out just as tasty. I accidentally overcooked my red lentils in the multi-cooker so the soup was very thick from the lentils, and I added fresh chopped pumpkin instead of canned. I don’t like well-cooked vegetables so I just added my frozen vegetables and cooked for maybe a minute or two at the end; just enough time for them to get hot. Healthy, easy, tasty – yay!
KCalla
November 28, 2010 at 12:53 pmI made this stew for dinner last night. It was fabulous. I could not find canned lentils locally, so cooked lentils from dry as recommended as an alternative. Also, as suggested, I added a little cayenne because I had only smoked paprika, not smoked hot paprika. Substituted Italian seasoning for oregano (again, what I had on hand). A really, really great stew. Fortunately we have a little left over to enjoy again today! Thank you for another wonderful recipe.
Running On Juice
December 3, 2010 at 9:52 pmHmm I am enjoying this right now. I recently started using a local farm delivery and wanted to use up this turnip. Something I rarely cook. So I made your dish with some turnip! Fantastic!!
Jenn
December 6, 2010 at 7:37 pmI’m so glad I found your site! I just made this while juggling loads of laundry and coaxing food into my teething 1 year old’s mouth (not an easy task these days) and you were right, it was ridiculously easy. This is such a great combination of pantry staples; it’s warm, yummy and a perfect antidote to the 30 degree weather outside my window.
jenna
December 23, 2010 at 9:21 pmGREAT post! Thank you for sharing this! I love it. It looks so yummy! I am a physician who advocates a plant-based diet. A friend and I recently started a blog on plant-based diets as a resource for those who are interested in transitioning to a plant-based diet. I would love to feature your blog on our site if you would be interested. We have lots of other plans too, but one step at a time. lmk and thanks again for the great post. Glad I found your blog…subscribing now! Jenn (www.theplantrx.com)
Azahara
December 28, 2010 at 8:23 amThis was really hearty and filling. Perfect for a cold day like today. This dish will certainly become a regular on my winter menu.
Thanks for making it so easy. I think I’d starve without this blog!
Laurene Davison
January 4, 2011 at 4:42 pmI made your Lentil and Vegetable Stew and was pleasantly surprised! It is delicious! My husband said he will try it when he gets home from work. Thanks and keep the delicious recipes coming!
dot
January 9, 2011 at 8:15 ammade this yesterday, and it was awesome =)
SusanB
January 14, 2011 at 1:58 pmThis was fantastic! The pumpkin was subtle and really yummy! So easy and delicious!
danielle
January 24, 2011 at 11:52 amI have fallen in love with this soup. It’s fun to change it up to what you have on hand. I was sick the last few days and had a bunch of veggies starting to look droopy, so I took the basic idea of this soup and threw it all together. The pumpkin was amazing. I feel better already! Thanks!
Pat
January 28, 2011 at 6:08 pmI have always loved lentils even as a little girl but I was a terrible eater also; my mother could never understand. Anyway, my son. who is a deli guy, said that it was quite good and ate every drop. Many thanks.
ziv
February 2, 2011 at 5:20 amIt was so tasty! That should be dietary, but it was not. We eat so much. Just kidding it looks great and taste better
Megan
February 4, 2011 at 10:35 pmSo excited to try this! Discovered a sad can of pumpkin from thanksgiving that was sitting in my cupboard… now I don’t have to wait until the next fall holiday to use it!
Mandie Best
February 10, 2011 at 12:48 pmI’ve never seen or heard of a dutch oven.. What is it? Where do I get one? How do you cook with it? Why is it different from a slow cooker? haha
I’m full of questions.
SusanV
February 10, 2011 at 1:02 pmGreat questions! A Dutch oven is simply a thick-walled pot with a tight-fitting lid. They’re usually made of heavier metals like cast iron. You cook with them just the same as with any pot. They hold the heat in well, especially when covered, so you can turn your stove down very low. Most of them can also be used in the oven, allowing you to bake and yet keep the steam inside the pot. Here’s a link to the one I have: Lodge Logic EC6D43 Enameled Cast-Iron 6-Quart Dutch Oven (but mine’s a pretty blue).
Jerry
February 12, 2011 at 6:06 amI plan to try this special recipe- i aint no great cook but this one “smells” great!!