Spring vegetable stew with chickpeas & lentils

By Neil Ebsworth, guest writer for sense* and brother of sense* Founder, Jonathan. Recipe 3 – A recipe from a cancer survivors immunity playlist – Read his story Click Here

Like many families, I like to roast a chicken at the weekend. Since my diagnosis, I did make one change to my Sunday roast. I substituted out the potatoes for cauliflower mash eliminating the main carbohydrate.

My cauliflower mash is made with added parsnip and I keep a supply of it in the fridge as it has become a staple to my diet and has been a major factor in reducing my daily carb and calorie intake.

I mention all this as I am always left with uneaten veg. I just make too much! Carrots, Parsnips, Swede, Broccoli, Leeks and celery to name but a few. Some that I have cooked, some that I havent.

So decided to be frugal and make a stew from the leftovers. High in lots of nutrients including zinc as well as protein this stew makes a great snack at any time and is packed with nutrients.

Ingredients

For the Stock

1 chicken carcass

1 large onion

garlic

1 medium carrot

½ stick celery

Provencal herbs

Bay leaves (if you have them)

Salt and Pepper

For the Stew

Red lentils 400g (cooked)

Chickpeas 400g (cooked)

White beans 400g (cooked)

mixed vegetables

Onion

Garlic

Carrots

Parsnips

Swede

Celery

Peas

Broccoli

Method

The stock

1. Pick off any remaining meat from the chicken carcass. You can add it to the stew if you wish or use it for sandwiches.

Place the broken up carcass in a large pot with the onion, garlic, carrot, celery and herbs and cover with water. Add salt and pepper to season.

2. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for at least 2 hours allowing the liquid to reduce by about 25-30% .

Take off the heat and allow to cool. Pour through a sieve into a large bowl. At this point it is best to refrigerate overnight. This allows saturated fats to solidify on top of the stock and they are then easily removed with a spatula or spoon.

The Stew

1. Chop any uncooked vegetables roughly keeping them all bite size.

2. In a fresh large pot add the chopped onion and garlic with a little olive oil and soften on a medium heat. Add the stock and the rest of the uncooked vegetables. Bring the stock to a boil and simmer for 15 mins

3. Add the lentils, chickpeas and beans and any leftover cooked veg from your Sunday roast. Continue to simmer until all the vegetables are cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Its a very simple way to use vegetables and a chicken carcass you may have thrown away. I often use the stew as a vegetable accompaniment for meals during the week as well as for a lunchtime meal.

I hope you enjoy these other recipes.

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2. Lasagna – A vegetarian version of the Italian classic. It looks, tastes and feels like the high carb meat and pasta dish but this version takes the carbs out of the pasta and replaces the meat with with high zinc alternatives including lentils and chick peas. – Click Here

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