EASIEST CROCK POT STEW

5 Qt. Crock Pot for Easiest Crock Pot Stew

Here's the easiest crock pot stew you will ever make and it's great for any night of the week. Did you see this on Twinformation on YouTube? Let us know in the comments if you did. 
This crock pot recipe makes A LOT of food so you'll be able to freeze it, pull it out, defrost it and eat it whenever you don't have time to make something.

You can make this stew with things you probably already have in your pantry and fridge.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED (TOOLS):
CROCK POT - 3 OR 5 QT. VOLUME
CUTTING BOARD, KNIVES, OR FOOD PROCESSOR

Packages of lentils & brown rice will cost about $1 a pop

INGREDIENTS:
(all of these are really up to your discretion - what you like, what you have lying around, you get the idea)
4 carrots (peeled & diced)
4 celery stalks (diced)
1 onion (chopped finely)
4 garlic cloves (chopped finely)
1 red bell pepper (seeded & diced)
1 cup uncooked lentils (rinsed & sorted)
1/2 cup brown uncooked brown rice
Water
Vegetable or chicken boullion
Spices to taste (sage, rosemary, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper are all nice choices with this stew)

For the "meat" of the meal:
1 pkg tofu (drained & pressed and cut into cubes)
OR
1 lb chicken (cut into bite size pieces)
OR
1 lb ground beef

METHOD:
Put all veggie, meat, starch & legume ingredients into crock pot. Fill nearly to top with cool water and put in a few teaspoons or cubes of boullion. Add other spices to taste.

Turn crock pot on high and let stew cook for at least 6 hours. Mix crock pot contents thoroughly following cooking. You can add spices such as salt, pepper, sage, thyme, or anything else you may like to taste at this point.... or, you can allow stew to cool and package it into single-serving, freezable containers. Freeze the containers and the contents and thaw when you need a quick go-to meal.

Single Serving Container of Crock Pot Stew Ready to Freeze

You can spice the stew up to your desire after thawing and heating. Blend the stew for a creamy consistency or keep it as is to enjoy all the ingredients and the wonderful flavors.

Waring Pro MBB Series Stainless Steel Blender (Google Affiliate Ad)

Ooh! Spice Market Sweet Potato & Lentil Packets

What a beautiful and colorful, completely vegetarian dinner this turned out to be. It's full of flavor and filling that you may never miss the fact this dish has no meat. With a good amount of protien, it is low in fat and low in calories. If you want to serve it with something more, try brown rice with just a splash of soy sauce.

This recipe comes from May/June 2010 issue of Vegetarian Times. Other than cutting up the vegetables and cooking the lentils, this only takes about 20-25 minutes cooking time. Each person gets his or her own packet and the nice part, the packets and the contents stay hot for a long time.

First, preheat the oven to 400-degrees F. Ok, here comes the recipe:
2 cups finely diced sweet potato (this is one large sweet potato. You can also use a yam for extra sweetness)
1 large red bell pepper, diced (1 & 1/2 cups)
1 cup fresh green beans, thinly sliced (we used zuchini instead of green beans and it was good)
1/4 cup golden raisins (used regular raisins and was still good sweetness)
2 Tbs. hot sesame oil
1 cup vegetable broth
2 Tbs. minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. curry powder (don't forget this. Adds a lot to the flavor of the whole dish!)
1 & 1/2 cups cooked lentils or 1 - 15oz. can lentils, rinsed and drained
4 Tbs. prepared mango chutney, optional (we didn't use this and it was fine. Could use fresh mango to add to sweetness)

Place 4 16-inch lengths of foil on work surface. Fold foil in half from short side. Unfold. Shape corners and edges of one half in to semicircle "bowl" with 1/2" sides. Coat insides of foil with cooking spray. You can also use a "Misto" sprayer to spritz olive oil instead of chemical cooking spray.
Combine sweet potato, bell pepper, green beans and raisins in medium bowl. Add oil and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper if you'd like.

Whisk together broth, ginger, garlic and curry powder in small bowl.

Divide sweet potato mixture among the packets. Top with 1/3 cup lentils each. Pour 1/4 of the broth mixture over the lentils in each packet and season with salt and pepper. Fold the other half of the foil over the ingredients and crimp edges in overlapping folds until packets are sealed.

Transfer packets to baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes. 30 if you're at sea level and you don't want the sweet potatoes to be on the crunchy side.

Transfer the packets to plates and let each person open the packets...carefully. Escaping air will be hot and steamy. Here's where you can top with the mango chutney if you want. Enjoy!

Here's the finished product. It's tasty and very hearty.