Teriyaki Lentil Stew

My girls LOVE teriyaki. Anything teriyaki flavored is high up in their book. I had never heard of teriyaki lentils but really wanted to make it work so that I’d have another type of lunch I could put in their thermos.  So I made up this recipe just for the girls, and it worked! They love it! I put about 3/4 to 1 cup of this stew in their thermos with 3/4 cup of the soaked brown rice. The lentils are a bit strong to eat by themselves, so they go perfect with the rice. I also

• use a crock pot! So easy.
• measure out 2 cups of dried beans into as many bowls as you want, and soak. After rinsing and drying them off a bit (let them sit on the counter for a few hours), package these up in individual bags and freeze. That way you can make lentil soup/stew on the fly…
• Use a mandolin food slicer set right over the crock pot to cut the onion and carrot. Very quick and you’ll have less to clean up.
• If you do not have or do not wish to use hoisin sauce, add 1 more tablespoon of soy sauce and 2 T more of honey.
• I very much recommend getting fresh ginger for this recipe, it is fabulous. But you can substitute powdered.
• This is pretty low fat, depending on your chicken stock. It’s important to eat a bit of fat with grains and beans/legumes to promote digestion and help it ‘stick to your ribs’. I add a touch of flax oil to the girls’ portions (butter doesn’t taste right). Some cold pressed sesame oil would also work (not toasted – unless you buy a brand that is organic and says it is roasted at low temperatures).

Teriyaki Lentil Stew

Rating: 3 forks (key) – hubby will not eat lentils

Difficulty:

Easy

Yield & Notes:

about 2 quarts

Ingredients:

2 cups dried lentils
1/4 cup whey

1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, mashed
1 T grated fresh ginger (or 1 teaspoon powdered ginger)
1 quart chicken stock
1 tsp dried mustard
2 T naturally brewed soy sauce
2 T organic hoisin sauce (will deepen the flavor,  Wok Mei is a good natural brand with no MSG – see note above if you do not want to use this)
1/3 cup honey

Preparation:

Soak lentils in whey and make sure they’re covered with filtered water for 7 hours or overnight. The next morning, drain and rinse your lentils. Then put the soaked but drained lentils and all other ingredients in the crockpot and turn on low all day or on high for 4-5 hours.

Taste the lentils one hour before you want to serve, make sure they are done and that the seasoning is right. You can add a touch more soy sauce or honey if you wish. If the lentils are too watery then leave the lid off for the last hour of cooking. They will thicken upon standing though.

These go well with ginger carrots.

Tagged as: brown rice, crock pot, economical, freezes well, gluten free, hoisin, honey, kid-friendly, lentils, teriaki, teriyaki