Lentil and Giant Couscous Stew with Fat Free Stuffing Dumplings

This recipe was inspired by Annie at An Unrefined Vegan’s November Virtual Vegan Potluck Stoup dish. I made a version with a hint of spice, chunks of broccoli and  addictive sage and onion stuffing dumplings made with just three ingredients and zero fat.

This is a stew like no other, with so many wonderful textures and complimentary flavours, every mouthful is exciting and will leave you truly satisfied. The best part is that this makes a large pot which will make at least 10 portions so you can keep this in the fridge and healthily feast on it for days.

Don’t be put off by the long lost of ingredients, it really is as simple as chopping some carrots and onion and putting everything into a pot!

Ingredients: Serves 10

For the stew:

• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 carrots, sliced into rounds
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tbsp harissa paste
• 1 400g (15 oz) can chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup/250 ml dried red lentils
• 6 cups/1.5 litres vegetable stock
• 2 cups/500 ml water
• 4 vegan sausages, cooked and chopped into chunks
• 2 small heads (about 600g) of broccoli (or 1 large one), in florets
• 300g (10 oz) frozen spinach
• 1/2 cup/125ml (about 75g) wholewheat giant/Israeli couscous
• Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

For the dumplings:

• 1 cup prepared stuffing (make up a vegan friendly sage and onion (or other flavour of choice) package according to directions and leave to cool. All brands vary but for one cup I used half an 85g pack)
• 1/2 cup/125ml (about 85g) fine cornmeal
• 1 tsp baking powder

Method:

1. If you haven’t done so already, cook the sausages and set aside.
2. In a large pot over a medium heat, sauté the onions and carrot in the soy sauce for about 5 minutes.  Stir in the garlic, thyme, sage, coriander, tomato puree and harissa paste and stir for a minute until fragrant.
3. Pour in the tomatoes, lentils, stock and water. Bring the pot to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer and cook, covered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Meanwhile, mix together the stuffing and cornmeal into a slighly sticky but firm dough. Don’t add the baking powder just yet.
5. After the 20 minutes of simmering, stir the sausage chunks, spinach, broccoli and couscous into the stew. Quickly work the baking powder into the dumpling dough then roll into walnut sized balls and place on top of the stew in the pot. Place the lid on the pot and leave to simmer for a further 20 minutes until the dumplings are risen and firm.

Nutritional Benefits

Very high in dietary fiber
High in manganese
Very high in vitamin A
Very high in vitamin B6
Very high in vitamin C

Adapted from An Unrefined Vegan

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