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:

Rock Chalk Jayhawk! GO KU!!!

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.