Beety Lentil Stew

This Beet Bourguignon recipe is adapted from The No Meat Athlete Cookbook (amazing book by the way, especially for those that work out a lot, find themselves always hungry or not knowing how to get enough protein on a plant based diet, or for the girlfriends and wives of hungry forever growing men that just can't stop eating). If you're not crazy about beets, this is a good way to incorporate them into a stew as they're pretty mild in this.. and it's flexible enough you can add in any veggies that are in season and you have on hand. This stew is hearty, wholesome, and really appropriate for the 20 degree nights and threats of snow we're getting down here in Florida! The original recipe has some extra steps but if you have a pressure cooker, I included a little secret shortcut that I used to make the process way faster and easier ;). Double the recipe to have leftovers for lunch the next day. You can change up your second meal by serving over rice or another whole grain instead of eating as a stew.




Ingredients:
(veggies and spices can easily be modified, for example I didn't have mushrooms so I used zucchini instead, and didn't have tomato paste so I used marinara instead!)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
One package mushrooms (or chopped zucchini/squash)
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 garlic cloves chopped
1 sprig rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup tomato paste (or marinara sauce)
1 cup red wine or veggie broth
4 white potatoes, chopped
3 beets, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 cups water
1 cup mixed lentils, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed (*OR see pressure cooker tip at bottom for faster cooking)
1 oz dried mushrooms
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons red miso
salt to taste


Directions:

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook for a few minutes until it starts to soften. Add mushrooms, celery, garlic and spices and cook for about 5 minutes until veggies are soft.

Add tomato paste/sauce in and mix well. Add wine/broth and keep mixing everything in the pot so nothing sticks to the bottom. Add everything else except miso and salt. Bring to a boil and as soon as it starts to boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Discard bay leaves and add miso and salt to taste. Mix well and serve.

* Pressure cooker instructions!:

Put dry lentils in your pressure cooker pot with enough water to cover them about an inch over. Cook for about 35 minutes or on your bean/legume setting.

Release pressure and add EVERYTHING else in including the miso but omit the olive oil (first ingredient). Cook for about 40 minutes more or use the soup/stew setting. Release pressure, mix, allow to cool and serve! Super easy, no pre-soaking required.