Guiso de Lentejas

Easy to do, easy to carry: that’s the motto for this tasty lentil stew! The dish I’m proposing is a typical Chilean recipe with a couple of extra ingredients that will make it even more tasty and nutritious.

Like most people in Chile, I’ve always eaten this dish at home. It’s tasty, cheap, fulfilling - and popular for precisely these qualities. It also has a recognizable flavour, which I recently found out is a typical Latin American one: onion-garlic sofrito plus cumin and paprika, spices that arrived with the Spanish colonists to dye our cuisines with the flavours of faraway lands. In Chile, however, we use a mix of spices called “aliño completo” (complete seasoning), which includes cumin and paprika but also oregano and ground coriander seeds. Finally, I’m adding spinach and a flavour booster: dried mushrooms (use porcini if you can get them!)

Usually, a stew like this one would be served with plain rice on the side, similar to an Indian ‘dal’ or a Thai curry. But since we want to make this one easy to take to work, let’s just make it alla mamma and cook the rice directly in the stew. That way, your lunch will include veggies, protein and carbs all in one. Easy to carry in a lunchbox (make sure it’s a properly sealed container, though) and easy to reheat, both in a microwave or in a pot.

Last but not least: what’s better than eating legumes nowadays? A good and clean protein source, both for you and the environment. Also, the right seasons for spinach and pumpkin are autumn and winter: the perfect timing for a warming dish like this.

Guiso de Lentejas

(makes 5 to 6 servings)

• 300g lentils
• 1 onion, approximately 200 g
• 2 garlic cloves
• ⅓ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp paprika
• 400g pumpkin
• 100g spinach
• 30g dry mushrooms
• 100g rice
• oil, any kind
• water or vegetable broth
  

Note: no products derived from animals were used in this recipe. So yes, it is vegan.

Let’s start with the so-called “mise en place”, the preparation before we head to the stove: If needed, soak the lentils a day or hours before. Chop the onions and garlic into small cubes. Peel and chop the pumpkin in cubes of approximately 3 cm. Soak the mushrooms in boiled water. Don’t throw away the water!

Chop the spinach as you want. When you’re done with chopping, place a pot on medium heat and add some oil.

Add the onions, and when they start becoming brownish, add the garlic, the salt and the spices. Lower the heat and stir it up for a couple of minutes.

Add the lentils and salt again. Stir and add the water. The amount of water or broth will depend on the lentils and the rice: if the lentils are soaked or not, if the lentils are big or small (they will absorb more or less water depending on the size), and the kind of rice you’re using: thin rice like basmati absorbs less water, others might absorb more. The idea is to have a soupish/stewish dish, so the amount of water plays an important role.

Don’t panic if it gets too dry: you can just add more water if needed, but keep in mind that adding more water means it also needs more salt, so taste it while it cooks and adjust accordingly.

The cooking time will depend on the lentils, the rice and the pumpkin. Lentils could take from 15-20 minutes to 30-40, again depending on the variety you’re using. Rice could take between 10 and 15 minutes, also depending on the variety. Pumpkin takes 15 to 20 minutes to be ready. Calculate when to add everything, starting with the lentils, so everything is cooked more or less at the same time. Don’t worry if some ingredients get overcooked; it usually happens.

Add the mushrooms in the “middle” of the cooking time, so about 10 to 15 minutes after it started boiling. The spinach doesn’t need much time. You could add it after you turn off the stove. If not, a minute of boiling will be enough.