To be quite honest here, I don’t have a lot of experience preparing or even eating root vegetables.

Growing up it was a lot of broccoli, cauliflower or anything else you’d throw into a stir fry.

Nowadays, there’s isn’t a vegetable I won’t experiment with.

This last trip to the market I bought my usual; carrots, onions, celery, potatoes, etc. . . PLUS two new items, turnips and parsnips – enough parsnips for the previous market Monday  soup AND this stew. I also couldn’t resist a colorful lentil medley.

All the ingredients came together after being inspired by the lovely and most talented, Cannelle et Vanille. Not only can this woman capture true beauty in her photographs, she’s an excellent recipe developer as well.

Why you should eat his [a.k.a. health benefits]:

• Lentils are a POWER food, loaded with fiber, folate, iron, protein, vitamin B, and other minerals. They also help to keep blood sugar levels even.
• Carrots, sweet potatoes, and turnips contain significant amounts of vitamin C and beta-carotene, which help to clean the blood and prevent high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke
• Onions and garlic are good for the heart
• Lentils and roots vegetables are lower in calories
• More health benefits listed here.

Not only is this SUPER good for you [mind & body], it’s also easy to make and perfect for those cold & rainy days, like today.

ps. for additional protein, we like to add chicken.

Happy Market Monday!

Vegetable and Lentil Medley Stew

PRINT Recipe

[Adapted by Cannelle et Vanille]

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 medium onion, diced – I used sweet onion
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 celery stalk, diced
• 1 turnip, diced
• 2 parsnips, peeled and diced
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water [or 2 additional cups chicken broth]
• 1 cup *lentil medley – or preferred lentils variety
• 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme – or 1/2 tablespoon of dried
• 1 teaspoon salt – add more if desired
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add garlic, onion, carrot and celery and cook on medium heat for about 5-8 minutes.

Mix in diced turnip, parsnip, sweet potato, and tomato paste and cook 2 minutes.

Add the chicken stock, water [or additional chicken stock], *lentils, thyme, salt + pepper. Stir and bring this to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer; cover for about 45 minutes until vegetables are tender and lentils are cooked. Season with additional salt and pepper if desired.

Enjoy!

*gluten-free *dairy-free
*Optional – Rinse & soak lentils overnight or at least 4-6 hours. This helps with digestion.

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CONGRATS to the giveaway winners. .  .

FREE spot in the Group Health Coaching series, beginning Jan 25th ~ Amanda

1/2 off Group Health Coaching series, beginning Jan 25th ~ Erin O’Leary

winners chosen by random.org || confirmation email to come

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