Soy Sauce Lentil Stew ★★

Easy, delicious, and vegan without even trying! I invented this recipe on the spur of the moment when there was nothing in the fridge. From its unlikely origins as survival food, it has risen to become one of the stars of our kitchen.

Serves 8.

Ingredients

• 1 lb green or French lentils
• about 3 carrots, diced
• about 3 stalks of celery, diced
• something spicy: red pepper flakes, spicy chilis, gochujang, wasabi, or chili oil

Sauce

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for sauté
• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar

Optional-ish Ingredients

These are not strictly required, but make the result more delicious.

• 1 yellow onion, diced
• kale or some other dark leafy green, stems removed, cut into ~1 inch strips or squares
• 8 oz mushrooms, sliced

Procedure

1. Sauté all veggies, except the mushrooms and leafy greens, in a large pot.
2. Add lentils and sauce ingredients, cover with boiling water, and bring to a simmer. The lentils will expand as they cook; add more water as needed to keep them covered. You'll end up needing about 9 cups of water per pound of lentils.
3. Start cooking the rice.
4. Cook the mushrooms in a pan: dry-saute them until they start to shrink a bit and change color; then add a bit of oil. After 15 minutes, add a splash of soy sauce and mirin and continue to cook.
5. When the soup has been simmering for 30 minutes or so, add the greens and cook for 15–20 minutes more.
6. Add mushrooms to the soup.
7. Divide rice into bowls and ladle the soup over it.

Even simpler procedure

If you are feeling lazy, you can throw all the ingredients, plus brown rice, into the pot at once and simmer for 45 minutes.

Notes

Serve with brown rice.

Lentils lower your blood sugar; to counteract that, I recommend pairing this recipe with ice cream.