Well, it’s week #52 (so exciting!!!) of my 2018 challenge to try one new whole-food plant-based (WFPB) recipe each week. And to finish off 2018 (and warm up on a cold December day), I made this delicious stew.

The idea comes from a soup recipe that my mom makes. Hers is made with ground beef, beef broth, and Acini di Pepe pasta.

I decided to try a WFPB version of this. I replaced the ground beef with lentils and fresh mushrooms. I replaced the beef broth with water and Better than Bouillon vegetable broth seasoning. And I replaced the pasta with brown rice.

I wasn’t quite sure how it would turn out, but I was very happy with the result. Paired with some fresh-baked bread and a salad, it was delicious! (And the house smelled so good.)

What I like about this recipe:

• Inexpensive

• Simple, nutritious, whole-food ingredients

• Leftovers make great lunches throughout the week.

What I ended up using/doing:

Note: This is a large recipe. If you don’t want to make as much, simply half the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup diced onion

• 1 cup diced celery

• 1 cup diced carrot

• 4 bay leaves

• 16 cups water

• 8 tsp. Better Than Bouillon vegetable seasoning

• 1.5 cups dry lentils

• 1.5 cups dry brown rice, cooked in water according to package instructions (I cooked mine in a rice cooker while preparing the rest of the stew.)

• 2 28-oz cans diced tomatoes

• 8 oz. package of fresh mushrooms, finely diced

• Additional salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Into a large stock pot, add the first 6 ingredients to make a vegetable broth. Bring to a boil.

2. In a separate pot or a rice cooker, cook the brown rice in water, according to package instructions.

3. Once the vegetable broth is boiling, add the lentils.

4. Reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables and lentils have softened to your liking.

5. Add the canned tomatoes and fresh mushrooms. Simmer until the mushrooms are cooked to your liking. (The mushrooms won’t take long.)

6. Remove from heat.

7. Add the cooked rice to the soup.

8. Add additional salt and/or pepper if needed.

9. Enjoy!