Clean Beef and Lentil Stew

Looking for a hearty stew to fill you up and keep you going? Try this easy recipe that freezes well! It’s an easy recipe that is good to make for dinner and keep leftovers ready for lunch! Even better? It freezes well. This clean Beef and Lentil Stew packs a hearty dose of fiber and protein.

Oh man guys, I don’t know about you, but my week started out rough. Here is a synopsis of my Monday:

1. It was raining.
2. I drive to work and bam! There is an accident on the highway that had to have happened mere minutes before. The cars are totally wrecked and traffic is crawling. Why? Well obviously because:

However, your gawking and mine may be different. Here was my train of thoughts as I came upon the accident:

“Why is it so slow? Thank goodness my exit is right up here”

“HOLY CRAP THERE WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT, THOSE CARS ARE SO WRECKED”

“..OK no first responders yet. I’ve got my CPR mask in my glove compartment, first aid kit behind the seat…..OH shoot.. I can’t be late to the ICU though, my patients are so sick! AH! NO good. This should not have to be a dilemma.”

“MMHMM…people walking around..pulse check, pulse check, pulse check, pulse check, ok check everyone is up and moving and walking. Well thank goodness. Everyone is breathing and able to move all their extremities. I can hear the sirens, they should be good…dazed, but good” BIG SIGH OF RELIEF.

Seriously, in the matter of seconds it took me to get around the accident, my mind started going nuts laying out a plan of action and assessing the situation. My heart started pumping and it was a go. Way too early in the morning for all of that, though.

Now tell me, if I was right? Do we maybe see accidents in a totally different light? LOL

3. Well, I make it to the unit and I get smacked with my patient being declared brain dead over the weekend (an emotional roller coaster of a case that I’ve been dealing with for the past week and having to have a lot of very serious and depressing family meetings) and dealing with the intensity of getting and maintaining a patient for gift of life. Oh wait, all that along with my other patients.

4. Then, a code is called on a guy who had come in bleeding out. Just spewing blood everywhere. Dropping his blood counts like it was nobody’s business. He was on the table and it was just like something you’d see in Grey’s Anatomy. Coded on the table, trying to find where he was bleeding and rushing the patient through the hospital to get him to the IR suite to embolize. Nutty. It was all like:

5. I get home, finally, and after parking I -with my spidey sense?- I guess I decide for some reason to look back at my car. Paranoid about whether I locked it (even though I am certain I did) and trying to decide if I should just relock it again? Who knows. For whatever reason, I, out of character, look back at it and am all like:

Lo and behold, I’ve got a flat. I have no idea when it happened. And I’m starving. Oh wait, and it’s late and all the places to get my tire fixed are closed. Oh wait some more, their open hours are not even close to being compatible with my work hours. I start way to early and end way too late. The only day off I have for the next 19 days is…Sunday…and everything is closed then too. Really?!! Why couldn’t this have waited just a bit. I don’t have time for this right now. I’m not even allowed to take time off during the ICU. Well, such is life I suppose.

Sigh. I’m in need of some serious comfort. Here is a delicious warm, hearty stew that is just scrumptious. It freezes well, fills you up and really hits the spot. Better yet, it’s packed with fiber, veggies and is easy to make!

Do you stop and look at accidents? What runs through your mind?

Any flat tire stories out there?

Clean Beef and Lentil Stew

Yum

Print Recipe

• CourseMain Dish

Servings	Prep Time
4 servings	10 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Servings Prep Time 4 servings 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Clean Beef and Lentil Stew Yum Print Recipe CourseMain Dish Servings Prep Time 4 servings 10 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Servings Prep Time 4 servings 10 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 cup lentils (need lentils? Try here)
• 2 carrots, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• ~1 tbsp cumin (get some here)
• 1 bay leaf (get some here)
• 3 cups water

Optional

• chili powder (get some here)

Servings: servings

Instructions

1. Dice all of your vegetables and toss them into a pot with the lentils, bay leaf and water
2. Cover and bring mixture to a boil, then set to simmer for ~20-25 minutes (plus or minus). Until vegetables are soft and lentils are cooked
3. Meanwhile, brown your ground beef in a pan and drain the fat
4. Once lentil mixture is cooked, drain any remaining liquid and add the beef and remaining ingredients.
5. Separate into dishes, serve and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

1. Cook time will depend on your stove. Check on it periodically by tasting a lentil/stabbing a vegetable once ~20 minutes have gone by
2. I find it is better to start off milder since it is super easy to add spices and everyone's tastes are different. Add chili pepper to the dish, hot sauce or spice of choice. (I added some chili powder)
3. This would be good topped with mozzarella cheese
4. Serving size will vary depending on how big your servings are. I made 4.

Share this Recipe