Hubs in London. Every good recipe needs a photo of this guy!
I ate at a great vegetarian restaurant in London, and the best part of our meal was this eggplant/lentil stew. I was determined to recreate it when I came home but couldn’t find the perfect recipe online, so I winged it a little and was shocked when it worked. I used a combination of this recipe and this recipe, and simplified it a ton (no tomato paste, no purees, no cans…).
Slow cooker lentil stew with tomatoes and eggplant
– 1 yellow onion – chopped
– 1 large eggplant – peeled and chopped
– 1.5 lbs of tomatoes (I used dry farm early girl tomatoes, probably about 10 of them) – quartered
– 1.5 cups of lentils
– 2 cups of water
– mix of spices
– 1 clove of garlic, peeled (optional)
Sautee the chopped onion in olive oil (use slow cooker pot is possible – less to clean) until onions are soft. Remove pot from stove and add chopped eggplant, quartered tomatoes, lentils, and garlic. Cover with about 2 cups of water (approx – I didn’t really measure this). Season with spices (my sister-in-law brought me some amazing spices from her last trip to the middle east, so I just threw them all in. There was some saffron, cumin, curry, chili powder – anything in this realm would be great and all depends on your taste). Cook in slow cooker on low for 4 hours. I was short on time so I cooked it on high for 2.5 hours and it turned out perfectly – it’s a very forgiving stew.
Remove garlic cloves and serve in your favorite Simon Pearce bowl with a poached egg on top.
Or two eggs if you are my hubs.
You would think we would try not to spill eggs/lentils all over white bowls before photographing – keepin it real here. Best part is it tastes even better the next night, and the night after that so WOOHOO – perfect warm and healthy weeknight meal / lunch leftovers.
Jill Adventure 