Lentil & 3 C's Stew

Here's a nice easy meal that is great in winter because it's so warm and soothing and full of veggies. It is great by itself, but also pairs well with brown rice or couscous or baked potatoes or even freshly baked bread.
We make it in a pressure cooker, as it's super quick & easy. We have the ability to saute first in our pressure cooker which is a feature I love, as I really prefer the taste of sauteed onions over just having them cooked in the stew without being sauteed first. However, if you don't have a pressure cooker you can make it over a stove top -  it will just take longer and may require more water.
This has become a favourite in our home, especially at the end of the week when we have quite a few bits and pieces of veggies leftover and want to use them all up before we buy our fresh lot for the next week. My husband refers to this meal as "pressure cooker lentils" - just stating things like they are ;-)
It works with any different herbs you wish to use, depending on what flavours you'd like to add to your stew. We also occasionally use a drop of liquid smoke which adds a lovely depth to the stew. The options are truly endless. :-) 

LENTIL & 3 C's STEW

(Makes 6-8 servings)

You'll need:
2 cups dried green lentils
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1/4 head cabbage 
2 carrots

2 stalks celery
1 zucchini
1/2 bunch silverbeet 
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 Tablespoon lemon juice 
1 litre veggie stock
1/2 litre water
1 teaspoon fresh rosemany

Chop all the veggies. 
Saute the onion and garlic. Add the remaining veggies to either a pressure cooker or stove top. 
If using a pressure cooker, add remaining ingredients and cook under pressure for 18 minutes. Release steam and serve. (You can use baby spinach in place of the silverbeet, add after steam has been released and stir through until wilted.)
For stove top, add the stock, water and lemon juice and cook for 30-35 minutes until lentils are cooked through and veggies are tender, adding more liquid if required. Then stir through the nutritional yeast, tomato paste, and rosemary.

Question of the day:
Do you have a winter comfort food? If so, what is it?

Neapolitan Ice-cream

Who remembers those big tubs of ice-cream that had a mixture of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla flavours in them? I assume they are still available. We always had them in our house when I was growing up. My favourite flavour was chocolate, and my brothers was strawberry. Although, occasionally we would have a scoop of all 3 flavours and mix it together to make a big swirl of flavoured ice-cream in our bowl!

Here's a way to combine chocolate, strawberry and vanilla flavours into a healthy ice-cream swirl:

 NEAPOLITAN ICE-CREAM 

You'll need (per serving):

1 cup frozen strawberries, chopped into pieces prior to freezing

1 medjool date, pitted

1 Tablespoon cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla essense

1-2 Tablespoons motherless milk of choice 

Combine all ingredients in a mini food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
The amount of milk will vary depending on your blender, and how smooth you want it.

Deliciousness! 

This one was made with more milk and more cocoa.

Question of the day?
Did you have Neapolitan Ice-cream as a child? If so, what was your favourite flavour?