Lovable Lentil Stew

Let's take a look at the humble lentil, shall we? Forget ramen, THIS should be the iconic food of college students everywhere. Inexpensive, full of protein, and readily compatible with SOOO many different flavors. They're kind of like little flavor sponges...except they're not spongy. And they're ready in a flash. Unlike their beany buddies, lentils require no soaking beforehand (though you do still have to rinse them and check them for rocks). 20-ish minutes of cooking is all these guys need to be eatable. That's why when Hubs asked me "What's for dinner?" and I realized I had no idea...I hugged the little 1-pound bag of lentils that I found in my pantry. I mean, I hugged them in my head. Actually hugging lentils would be weird, right?

Lovable Lentil Stew
$1.16 per serving/$6.94 total cost

1 tablespoon oil, butter, or bacon fat

1 Andouille sausage link, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 pound lentils, picked over and rinsed

6 cups water

1 tablespoon chicken base, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

1/2 cup frozen corn

1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots mix

Seasoning (all measurements are approximate and should be adjusted according to taste):

1-2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2-3/4 teaspoon oregano

1/2-3/4 teaspoon thyme

2-3 dashes crushed red pepper (this gets spicier as the dish cooks, so apply with caution)

Sea salt (several liberal pinches, applied and tasted throughout)

Black pepper (several liberal turns of the pepper grinder...plus more on top of the individual servings)

Garnish

1 cup shredded Jack cheese

1 cup sour cream

Heat oil in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, add sausage and onion until sausage is browned and onion is translucent. (NOTE: I did not have an onion when I made this. But it was sorely missed. There should've been an onion. Also, if you're fortunate enough to have one, the onion powder used to season things later on would be superfluous, so you can skip that.) Add lentils to pot and toast, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes. (NOTE: This is toast the verb, not toast the noun. Do not add actual toast to your lentil stew. Unless you have some yummy garlic toast...in which case, that would actually probably be pretty good on the side. But you knew that already.) Add water and chicken base to pot and bring to a gentle boil. Place a lid on the pot--leaving it slightly ajar to keep the lentils from boiling over--and reduce heat to medium-low. Boil for 20-25 minutes, or until lentils are soft. (NOTE: I like to leave mine on the heat closer to 25 minutes, sometimes longer. I like lentils so soft they could advertise toilet paper on TV. But that's just me.) Add corn, peas, and carrots to the pot and heat through. Season to taste. Serve immediately with cheese and sour cream (and that yummy garlic toast we talked about earlier, if you have it.)

Notes

Watery? Observe the picture below. This is what the stew looked like when I put the veggies in. It was pretty watery the first night. You can solve this problem by reducing the amount of liquid you use, letting it simmer for awhile longer than indicated in the recipe (which is also good for letting the flavors develop), or--what I did--let a little of the excess liquid run off when you ladle it up to serve. The next day it was *perfect*.

Veggies: I added 1/2 cup each of frozen corn and peas/carrots because that's what I had in my freezer. Improvise. Wilted spinach or kale would be insane and delicious. I think some fresh tomatoes thrown in to simmer for a few minutes before serving would be lovely.

If you wanna be REALLY veggie: This dish can be vegetarian if you omit the chicken base and sausage. Maybe try some smoked paprika to fill in that smoky note that the Andouille would add. Vegan? Omit the cheese and sour cream! Sub your favorite soup-toppers instead. These changes would also cut the price of the dish down, since dairy and meat are kind of cash-suckers (which is why we follow Rule #1!).

Servings: This recipe makes a pretty big pot. At least 6-8 servings, depending on how hungry your people are (I used a 6-serving cost estimate, but that was on the conservative side.). I was just cooking for Hubs and me, but I love leftovers, so I cooked a lot on purpose. It's even better the next day! And oh-so-freezable!

Seriously, guys...this is way better than ramen. And I actually kinda like ramen. We're old friends. But if ramen noodles are my old friends, this Lovable Lentil Stew is that cute, somewhat nerdy guy who just moved in to the building next door...and ramen and I both talk about him a lot, and ramen would TOTALLY understand if I wanted to bail on our plans later, y'know, if he asked me out to dinner or something. (Which he totally will.)