Vegetable stew

• servings: 4 servings
• active time: 10 minutes
• total time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil or rapeseed oil

1 onion finely chopped

3 garlic cloves sliced

1 tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp dried thyme

3 medium carrots (about 200g), sliced

2 medium celery sticks (about 120g), finely sliced

1 red pepper chopped

1 yellow pepper chopped

2 x 400g cans tomatoes or peeled cherry tomatoes

1 vegetable stock cube made up to 250ml

2 courgettes (about 300g), sliced thickly

2 sprigs fresh thyme

250g cooked puy lentils (we used Merchant Gourmet ready-to-eat puy lentils)

Directions

Heat the olive or rapeseed oil in a large, lidded, heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Lower the heat slightly then add the onion, cooking gently and stirring occasionally, for 5-10 mins until softened.

Stir in the garlic cloves, smoked paprika, ground cumin, dried thyme, carrots, celery sticks, red and yellow peppers, and cook for 5 mins.

Tip in the tomatoes along with the vegetable stock, courgettes and thyme sprigs. Give it a good stir, cover, and cook for 20-25 mins.

Remove the thyme sprigs and discard. Stir in the cooked lentils and bring back to a simmer for 5 mins until warmed through. Serve with wild and white basmati rice, mash or quinoa.

Nutrition

• Calories: 216
• Total Fat: 5 g
• Saturated Fat: 1 g
• Sodium: 1.6 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 31 g
• Dietary Fiber: 10 g
• Total Sugars: 16 g
• Protein: 12 g