Red Lentil and Swiss Chard Stew

ellie_'s Note:

I thought this sounded interesting and something a bit different. Bon Appetit (December 2005)

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 5 teaspoons curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 (14 ounce) cans vegetable broth
• 12 cups swiss chard, chopped (about 1 bunch)
• 1 lb red lentil (or 2 1/4 cups)
• 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained (chick peas)
• yogurt (garnish) or sour cream (garnish)

Directions:

1. In a large soup pot or saucepan, saute the onion in oil over medium high heat for 10-15 minutes or until onion is golden.
2. Stir in curry powder and cayenne.
3. Add the broth and chard and increase heat to high and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to medium and stir in lentils and garbanzos. Cover pan and simmer for 10 minutes or until lentils are tender (if you use brown lentils it will take longer for lentils to be tender), stirring occasionally.
5. Divide soup into bowls and top with sour cream or yogurt, if desired.

Reviews

[quinoanut]

This recipe kicks serious butt! We went back for seconds last night and I know it will not last long enough to freeze leftovers. I love the way the red lentils cook to nothing and then thicken the %u201Cbroth%u201D. My variations:
I used 2cups Trader Joe's low sodium chicken broth 1cup water, then added a bit of salt when done. I used 1T butter 1T olive oil. I actually first saw the recipe somewhere else where it is posted exactly the same except it added a comment about the chard "about 12 cups" which I appreciate because there is so much room for variability in "bunches" and I like things to be exact. I also used a different order for adding ingredients. I like to use the stalks as well as leaves of chard but tend to like the stalk cooked more therefore I added the chopped stalks of chard about 10min after onion. Five minutes after that added broth, lentils and garbanzos and brought to boil. After simmering 10 min I then added Chard leaves as I prefer then not overcooked. I did not garnish with yogurt or jalapenos. This really is a stew, not a soup, it is very thick and at first I thought the pot would not take the 8 or so cups of chopped chard leaves I had but it did ( added 3 cups of chopped stalk earlier = 12 cups).

[Kimber M.]

Better the second day!
So you know, the lentils don't stay we'll formed; they rather dissolve and form the basis of the stew.
We're curry newbies, so used only 3 tsp and got a gentle kick w/ out added hot sauce.

[Lilmsbritches]

This was super easy and really delicious! I used "No Chicken" broth and red chard, served it with toasted naan bread. Yum! Thank you!!!