I always get so excited when I find out about some new (to me) non-vegan comfort food dish that I’ve yet to veganize. Making a vegan version usually becomes my number one order of business! It was a couple of weeks ago that I was browsing Pinterest and saw a recipe for chicken Provencal. I had to check it out, along with every other recipe for chicken Provencal I could find. It seems like this is a dish people take lots of liberties with, with the only common ingredients I could find being chicken, garlic, and herbes de Provence. That was fine with me. I’d take my own liberties in creating a vegan version! And so I did. I incorporated all my favorite elements from all the recipes I checked out: tomatoes, olives, white wine and basil all went into my version. Oh, and I turned it into a lentil stew, because why not?
Cooking with French Lentils
If you’ve cooked with lentils in the past but aren’t sure what variety they were, they were probably brown lentils. Brown are the most common, and if you buy a package of lentils that doesn’t tell you what variety they are, they’re usually brown. Well, good news: French green lentils aren’t all that different from brown lentils. They’re a bit smaller and firmer, but I find the overall flavor to be the same. They also cook much like brown lentils (which means you can substitute brown lentils in lots of French lentil recipes, including this one, if you really want to).
How to Cook Lentils
People seem to have a lot of trouble in this department. Lentils are really easy to cook, but they’re also really easy to screw up. My method for cooking lentils is this: place them in a pot, cover them with plenty of water (at least a few inches), and boil them until they’re tender. For French lentils like these you’ll usually need 30 to 40 minutes of cook time. So why do we end up with imperfect lentils so often? It could be a few things:
Your lentils are old. Have they been sitting on your shelf for a while? Do they have a best by date? Lentils that are past their prime will often stay overly firm, even with a long cooking time.Acidic/salty ingredients. Avoid adding acids (such as lemon juice or vinegar), or salt (which could be in the form of broth), until your lentils have already softened. These ingredients can prevent them from cooking. Acids are especially a no-no. Broth you can sometimes get away with if it’s not super salty and your lentils are fresh.Not enough water. The water in your pot will evaporate and get soaked up by the lentils as they cook. Keep a container of hot water on hand so you can add it to the pot as the water is depleted. It’s important that the water be hot, otherwise you’ll cool down your cooking water and slow the cooking process.They’re overcooked. This one is pretty obvious, but if your lentils turn out mushy, they’re probably overcooked. Keep an eye on the pot while they simmer. It’s also worth mentioning that some types of lentils, such as split red lentils, are meant to be mushy and will be no matter how you cook them. (Check out the pics from this red lentil soup recipe to see how that looks.)
How to Make French Lentil Stew
Start by heating up some olive oil in a pot. Once the oil is hot, add a diced onion and let it cook until it begins to soften up, then add some garlic and cook it for a minute more. Now it’s time to employ that lentil cooking method we just talked about. Add some water to the pot, along with your lentils and herbes de Provence. Bring it up to a boil and let it cook until your lentils are tender. While the lentils cook, sauté some mushrooms for the stew. Heat up some olive oil in a skillet and add the mushrooms. Let them cook for about 5 minutes on each side, until they’re tender and browned. Make sure not to crowd the skillet! You can cook the mushrooms in batches to avoid crowding if needed. Back to those lentils! After about 30 minutes, the lentils should be just a tad on the firm side still, and there should be just a bit of excess water in the pot. Now add some wine and let it simmer for 5 minutes or so, until most of it has evaporated. Now stir in some tomatoes, olives (I used a mix of red and green) and your cooked mushrooms. Bring everything to a simmer and let it cook for 5 or 10 minutes, until the lentils are as tender as you’d like them. Take the pot off of the heat and season it with salt to taste. Make sure to add a bit of salt at a time, stirring well between each addition to fully incorporate it. This recipe can be deceiving, as no salt has been added up until now, but the olives add super concentrated salty bursts throughout the stew. Serve your stew with a sprinkle of fresh basil.
Can a different variety of lentil be substituted for the French lentils in this recipe? Yes! Brown lentils should work just fine.Is there a substitute for the wine? You can leave it out if you prefer.If you do use the wine, check with Barnivore to ensure the brand you use is vegan.When cleaning your mushrooms, simply wipe them with a damp cloth rather than rinsing them. This will avoid them sucking up a ton of water, which can prevent browning.Avoid crowding your mushrooms in the skillet. This can also prevent browning. Cook them in multiple batches if needed.Is there a substitute for the mushrooms? You can leave them out if you prefer, or try using some diced eggplant instead.Is this recipe gluten-free? Yup!Leftovers will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for about 3 days.
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