08 April 2008

Lentil Stew with Ham and Greens


Er, yeah. All my big talk in my last post, and here I sit: bringing you another recipe from my queue. Heh. But I have a good excuse! Did you see That Game?? That SHOT?!? Insane! The last 2 minutes (and overtime) was a thing of beauty, I'm telling you. Mario Chalmers is a Legend now. And Mass St. was a madhouse for much of the night and early morning. Hence the fact that my very fuzzy-brained, very sleepy self is bringing you a recipe that I made a few weeks ago :)

After the big Easter meal, my parents graciously gave me not only huge quantities of ham, but the ham bone itself. Now, I'm not a big fan of Ham and Bean soup, mainly because of the beans. Instead I decided to make a Ham and Lentil Stew recipe I had seen in Cooking Light. Very good call! It made a ton of stew, a nice thick steamy stew that sticks to your ribs instead of some brothy thing. And the lentils do not have the same... effect... on my digestive system as beans, a gigantic plus. Add to that the fact that it's good and healthy for you, and you can't go wrong. So: I realize it's a bit past the Easter holiday at this point, so most people don't have a ham bone sitting around, but if you find yourself with one in the future: definitely give this stew a shot.

Off to finish some housework and then snuggle into my comfy comfy bed. One last thing:







Lentil Stew with Ham and Greens
(Adapted from Cooking Light, January 2002)



Ingredients:
1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 c. chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
5 c. fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 ham bone
1 c. dried lentils
1/2 c. chopped carrot
2 bay leaves
3 c. chopped Swiss chard, collard greens, or spinach
1 1/2 c. chopped baking potato
1 c. chopped smoked ham
1 (14.5-oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 5 minutes. Add broth, ham bone, lentils, carrot, and bay leaves; bring to a boil.

Partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Add Swiss chard, potato, and ham; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes or until potato is tender.

Remove ham bone, and cool; cut off as much meat as you can, and then discard bone. Stir in ham from bone, tomatoes, basil, thyme, and pepper; simmer 10 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Sprinkle with parsley.

7 comments:

Meryl said...

Woohoo! Rock Chalk!

Maggie M. said...

This looks good - I think I might try it with vegetarian ham.

Gretchen Noelle said...

I always enjoy a good lentil stew! And I love cooking light!

Anonymous said...

go KU! :)

Sarah said...

My host mother used to make something like this with chorizo every single week. Unfortuntely, lentils do have the same effect on me as regular beans... :-/
As soon as I can bring myself to eat lentil soup again, I will definitely give this one a try--it looks tasty!

Anonymous said...

Thanks, we have been looking for a good lentil stew and this looks like what I wanted.....

Shadow said...

the best way to enjoy lentils is with pork meat, nothing can beat this combination, I saw a recipe in online pharmacy, is call it "chifrijo" a Latin dish.