Lamb and Lentil Vegetable Stew

My friend has been on the cabbage soup diet for a while. I liked the idea of homemade vegetable stew, but am not keen on very low calorie diets, so I made this up.

The particular vegetables are what I used, but this is one of those recipes where you add what you have in your fridge. Potatoes would work nicely instead of lentils if you like, and if you loathe cabbage you’d do well to substitute it for the equivalent volume of spinach. I encourage the substitution of tinned tomatoes for fresh, although it will take a lot more tomatoes and probably end up being more expensive.

Ingredients (quantities vary to taste)

• cubed lamb
• whole wheat flour
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil
• garlic
• shallots
• green onions
• mushrooms (I used maitake, but you can use anything.)
• whole cabbage
• carrot
• courgette (zucchini)
• tinned crushed tomatoes
• vegetable stock
• dried lentils

1. Heavily salt and pepper some whole wheat flour. Put into a bag. Add lamb cubes, shake to coat.
2. Brown lamb in olive oil until every side is a nice colour. Drippings will stick to the bottom of the pan. Don’t worry about them too much. If you’re worried they’re going to burn, scrape them up, turn the heat down, or start adding vegetables.
3. Mince garlic, shallots and green onions. Add to pan with lamb, scrape up drippings with a wooden spoon.
4. Roughly chop mushrooms, cabbage. Make sure to clean cabbage and to remove the stalk and outer leaves. Add to pan with a few splashes of stock, cover, and cook down until cabbage has become translucent and manageably small.
5. Roughly chop and add carrots and courgette. Add tinned tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes reduce in acidity and lamb is tender.
6. Add lentils. Cover and cook until just short of al dente. Uncover and reduce stew down to desired thickness.