Lentil Olive Stew

This quick & easy one pot Lentil Olive Stew packs alot of punch with juicy olives, salty capers, feta, fiery chilli and a generous portion of lentils. Makes a tasty & healthy weeknight supper.

I'm hoping that you like big flavours as that's exactly what you'll get from my Lentil Olive Stew. It is one big bowlful of punchy, delicious, veggie delight.  There are so many bold ingredients in this pot that, come suppertime, you and your mouth will wake up and have a little party together - even if it is just midweek.

This recipe has been a long time coming. For years I’ve been admiring lentil recipes in cookbooks and magazines, but up until recently Chris has been really, really, really opposed to beans & pulses. Especially pulses. Including lentils....grrr. I have to confess, until 6 months ago, I’d barely ever eaten lentils. They were just not cooked at home as I grew up and then I married Chris – case closed.

However, keen to make my daughters’ diets as rich and varied as possible, last autumn I made a curry that contained a small proportion of lentils in it and kept quiet as I served it up. After a few mouthfuls, Chris gave his verdict...

Big hit - he loved it. 🙂 🙂

Even after I confessed about those teeny-tiny, oh so innocent, little lentils. 🙂 🙂

From that point on, as a family, we have grown to love lentils entirely. We’ve all eaten the ‘test’ curry and a pile of other lentil recipes so much over the winter. This is great news as lentils are so utterly good for you. They are:

• very high in protein
• low in fat
• low in sodium
• easy to digest
• high in cholesterol lowering fibre

As if all of those benefits weren’t enough, there’s more:

• lentils are incredibly cheap
• they come in a rainbow of colours

Anyway, leaving the virtues of lentils aside, um, back to the Lentil  Olive Stew.

Having completely overcome household lentil phobia (hooray), I decided to create this flavour-bomb of a supper. It is quick & simple to make – you just keep adding ingredients to the same pan. What you get at the end is very little washing up (bonus) and a large bowlful of so many wonderful veggies and satisfying flavours to enjoy. There are: juicy olives, salty capers & feta, fiery chilli flakes and a generous portion of lentils. It is a commotion in your mouth.

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Lentil & Olive Stew

Jane Saunders

This quick & easy Lentil Olive Stew packs alot of punch with juicy olives, salty capers, feta, fiery chilli and a generous portion of lentils. Makes a tasty & healthy weeknight supper. Lentil Olive Stew

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Course: Main Course, Supper, Vegetarian

Cuisine: Worldwide

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 4 servings

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Ingredients

• ▢ 3 shallots
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves
• ▢ 2 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 ½ large red peppers
• ▢ 1 ½ large yellow pepper
• ▢ 600 g/ 2 ⅔ cups tinned tomatoes (chopped)
• ▢ 375 g/ 13oz new potatoes (peeled)
• ▢ 120 g/ ⅔ cup green lentils (look for ones that cook in 20ish minutes)
• ▢ 65 g/ ⅓ cup red lentils
• ▢ 375 ml/ 1 ½ cups vegetable stock
• ▢ 175 g/ 6oz mixed pitted olives (drained)
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoon sundried tomato paste
• ▢ 1 ½ tablespoon capers in brine (drained)
• ▢ ¼ - ½ teaspoon chilli flakes (to taste)
• ▢ 2 medium handfuls spinach leaves (about 100g/ 3 cups)

To Serve:

• ▢ 100 g/ 4oz feta cheese - crumbled
• ▢ Extra olives
• ▢ Extra chilli flakes

Instructions

• Finely dice the shallots and garlic cloves, then fry them in the olive oil in a large saucepan over a low - medium heat for 3-4 minutes, until they begin to soften
• De-seed the peppers and chop into 1 cm chunks, then add to the pan and continue to fry for 2 more minutes
• Peel and cube the potatoes, then add to the pan along with the tomatoes, green lentils and stock. Season with pepper only (see notes). Turn up the heat and bring to gentle simmer. After 5 minutes, stir in the red lentils. Cook for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes and lentils are all cooked through
• Meanwhile, quarter the olives and slice the spinach leaves
• When the potatoes and lentils are cooked, add the olives, capers, sundried tomato paste and chilli flakes. Stir and heat through for a minute
• Finally add the spinach to the pan, and stir in until it just wilts
• Serve in bowls and top with the feta, extra olives and chilli flakes if desired

Notes

I find that this recipe does not need additional salt as the olives, capers and feta all provide a salty hit. Feel free to taste just before serving and add salt if you feel it is needed though.

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