Carrot Lentil Stew with Moringa

So my spell check doesn't know what is moringa, a lot of people don't either. So don't feel bad if you don't know what they are and just keep reading.

Quick facts about Moringa:

1. Contains 46 antioxidants types.
2. Complete and easily digested protein!
3. More iron than spinach.
4. More potassium than a banana.
5. More vitamin A than a carrot.
6. More vitamin C than an orange.
7. 4x more calcium than milk.
8. Very high amounts of vitamin E.

I'm soo lucky to have all these nutrients in my back yard! (If you live in Saudi, you should really consider growing it, it's really easy to maintain) In other parts of the world, moringa is usually sold as a powder or is very expensive. Feel free to sub with spinach or coriander if you can't get moringa, you should try though. I mean look how healthy they are!

Okay so we got moringa down, but what about lentils?

4 reasons why you should eat lentils:

1. Lentils are full of protein
2. They contain a lot of soluble and insoluble fiber
3. They have a very high amount of iron (who said you need meat for that?)
4. One word, cheap.

Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of red split lentils
• 4-6 medium carrots chopped
• 1 medium sweet onion or red onion diced
• 3-4 garlic cloves chopped
• 2-3 medium Roma tomatoes diced
• fresh moringa leaves or fresh chopped coriander/cilantro
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• red chili powder to taste
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast optional

Lentils

1. Rinse the lentils under cold water and pick any stones or bad lentils
2. Soak the lentils with water about 3-4 inches above them for +4 hrs
3. Strain the lentils
4. Add to the pot and cover with filtered water until the water is about 2-3 inches above the lentils. (this also depends on how mushy or dry you want your lentils to be) normally it's 1 part lentils - 2 parts water.
5. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to low
6. Cook for 20-30 minutes uncovered or partially covered
7. Cook until the water is gone and the lentils are falling apart
8. If you want your lentils to be cooked more, just add more hot water

Note: I apologize the steps seem complicated, but I promise you they're so easy to make!

Stew

1. Heat a large soup pot on medium heat
2. Add oil then onions and sauté for about 3 minutes, add garlic, sauté for another minute, add tomatoes and sauté until the water from the tomatoes is almost gone
3. Add carrots, lentils, and spices. Add 1/4 cup of water or more if needed.
4. Cook until the carrots are soft, about 7 minutes. Add the moringa and stir.
5. Remove from heat and add the nutritional yeast and stir.
6. Garnish with coriander.

Buen Provecho!