After my ambitious triple-blog-post week just after Arlo was born, I lost the motivation to write. I even had a few recipes and photos uploaded to my drafts folder, but I just couldn’t write the actual posts.
Knowing how fast this time goes by, I yearned to simply be present. I slowed down, which felt absolutely amazing. I worked when the inspiration was there and didn’t when it wasn’t. I soaked up our sweet baby boy. I savoured the confidence and ease of being a second-time mom (what a difference). A rollercoaster of hormones hit me early on, and I struggled with the blues on and off. I nursed and pumped and nursed some more. Eric and I mumbled incoherent words, back and forth, in the middle of the night (why is it so impossible to string words together at 3am?). I kissed Arlo’s head, cheeks, and feet a million and one times, and it has yet to feel like enough. I don’t think it ever will.
We witnessed Adriana transform into a little girl right before our very eyes. One night as I rocked her at bedtime—with her long legs falling off the side of the rocker, my arms burning under the weight of her body, and her bossy words instructing me what songs to sing and not to sing (“NO thank you, MOMMY!”)—it struck me that I was not cradling a baby anymore. I fought back tears. It had been a while since I rocked her, as my 3rd trimester bump had gotten in the way. Now she was basically a teenager disguised as a two-year-old.
Our basement renovation is almost wrapped up, so we’ve taken up dancing, the four of us, in the unfurnished rooms while listening to Christmas music. Adriana clutches her baby doll in her arms, just like I do with Arlo. We also play hide and seek. Often, the basement fun abruptly ends in tears as Adriana has a penchant for running into walls. Ouch. Boo-boos are kissed, and we explain, once again, why it’s a bit too soon for her to pick up her baby brother. So she hovers about an inch over his face, just trembling with excitement, sneaking in kisses. “He’s looking at you!” she yells with delight as he stares into her eyes.
I never want to forget these moments.
Even though I haven’t been writing as much, I’ve been cooking every chance that I get. A couple months ago, Pulse Canada contacted me about partnering with them to develop and share a recipe in celebration of the International Year of Pulses. If you can believe it, I’ve never created a sponsored recipe; most offers I’ve received didn’t feel like authentic reflections of me and the Oh She Glows brand. But pulses…well, I didn’t have to think twice. Peas, beans, lentils, and chickpeas? You know I’m down with that. As I’ve shared on the blog before, Canada is one of the world’s leading producers of pulses (in fact, we’re the #1 producer of peas and lentils, which I think is super cool). There are a whopping 22,000 pulse farmers in Canada (high fives), and our pulses are consumed in over 150 countries. (“Our pulses”? Okay, now I’m talking like I grew them myself or something!) On a personal level, I eat pulses every single day, and I adore their flavour and versatility. Red Lentil Hummus, Chickpea Pancakes, No Bake Chickpea Cookie Dough Bars (a recipe I never got around to finalizing!), Lentil-Walnut Taco “meat”…the sky’s the limit with what you can create!
Aside from being super nutritious and easy on the wallet, pulses are friendly to the environment, too. Their carbon footprint is lower than almost any other food group.
Pulse Canada has created the “Pulse Pledge” encouraging people to commit to eating pulses once a week for 10 weeks and reduce their carbon footprint all at the same time. It’s totally free, and you can sign up with me here. (Spoiler alert: I’m killing it, lol.)
A big thanks to Pulse Canada for sponsoring this post. I’m delighted to finally share my newest pulse-based stew recipe with you below!
A couple housekeeping notes:
Be sure to check out my Instagram post on Friday for some super exciting Black Friday news (hint hint: big app sale, a free holiday cookie app bundle, and Android news!).
Lastly, I’m thrilled to let you know that Oh She Glows Every Day has made it to the final round in the Goodreads Choice Awards. Thank you so much to everyone who has voted and helped to get the book this far! Voting for the final round is open through November 27th; if you’re game to cast one more virtual ballot (or maybe your first!), I would appreciate the support more than I can say. :)
Butternut squash, red lentils, and sweet potato are wrapped in a lightly sweet and creamy coconut and tomato broth accented with spicy notes of turmeric, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, and garlic. Apple cider vinegar provides a tangy brightness to bring everything together. This stew tastes better the next day once the flavours have had a chance to mingle; if you can make it the day before serving, I’d highly recommend it! This recipe was created for Pulse Canada, and was inspired by Deliciously Ella. * Make sure to dice the squash and potato very small (about the size of almonds), as this will expedite cooking. Also, if you are short on time, you can skip peeling the butternut squash as the skin is edible. (I don’t recommend skipping peeling the potato, though.) ** You can swap the red lentils for 1 (14-ounce/398 mL) can chickpeas (drained and rinsed). *** You can swap the chard for 5 ounces of baby spinach or a bunch of kale (stemmed). I recommend chopping the greens into small bite-size pieces for easier eating.Cozy Butternut, Sweet Potato, and Red Lentil Stew
Yield
11 cups (2.75 quarts)Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Ingredients
For the stew:
Optional accompaniments:
Directions
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Nutrition Information
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Taste awesome, my husband and I loved it I used black rice instead of white rice because of the higher protein content in the black rice. Thanks so much for sharing your yummy recipes..?
Hey Tina, That’s great news you loved the stew so much! Good idea on changing it up with some black rice…yum!
I just made this for my family and they loved it. I made it in my Instant Pot (6min Manual then 10 min natural release) to shorten the cook time. So delish! I will definitely make this again. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing you IP method! I can’t wait to make it in mine.
Love this stew! But skip the salt, it doesn’t need it and it will be better for you. Thank you for the wonderful recipe. I have the Oh She Glows cookbook and I highly recommend that as well.
Thank you so much for your support LeAnn!
Thanks so so much for this very comforting stew. Made it tonight and we all LOVED it! I used kale in place of the chard and didn’t add the sweet potato as I didn’t have one just more lentils and squash and all still turned out divine!
Thanks for your review Nicole! I’m so happy you all loved it :)
Wow, this was fantastic. I’m relatively new to cooking and a slow chopper, so it took me about an hour and a half to make this stew. Despite the time commitment, it was well worth it. My eyes almost popped out of my head when I first tried it. The flavors blend together beautifully; the texture is divine. I will definitely be making this again for my family. Maybe next time, I’ll buy a bag of pre-cut squash instead.
well Im so glad you stuck with it and it was well worth the effort! :) So happy to hear how much you love it.
This stew is delicious. I even received a positive “it’s not awful” comment from my picky child. (That’s a win in my family!) I’ll be adding this recipe to the fall/winter dinner rotation.
haha oh I can relate to those comments ;) So glad it was a hit!
This is a great hearty recipe. Totally cozy and perfect for a (holiday) meal that you want to eat over the course of a few days. I doubled the recipe, added more greens to the pot at the end, and served basmati rice on the side. Delish! I think next time I make it I’ll add more green veggies and see how it turns out.
Hey Alison, Thank you! I usually double the recipe too. Just can’t get enough of those leftovers! Thanks for your review :)
I love this stew! I have made this recipe about a half dozen times and a two of the times my lentils lost their skin and turned the stew a dark brown color. The flavor was still great but the color was very unappealing. Any ideas as to why this could have happened and tips to avoid this from happening in the future? thank you!
Hey Melissa, Hmm it sounds like you may be using green or brown lentils instead of red lentils? Generally red lentils don’t have lose skins (they more so just break down when cooked). I’m so glad you love the stew regardless! It’s a fave over here.
There is something wrong with your website. This page says there are should be 409 “comments” for this post over 7 pages, but I can only see the comments on page 1. When I click to see pages 2,3,4,5, and 6, I can see the number of comments that should be on the page, but none are actually shown. I found that this is not just an issue with this recipe… I had the same problem with your Red Lentil recipe. Please help.
Hey Kathleen, Oh no! Thanks so much for letting me know! I just checked and it’s happening for me too. We’re going to look into this and hopefully the fix will be easy. Thanks for your patience in the meantime :)
I loved this stew! So hearty and flavorful! I added a can of cannellini beans for protein. Perfect for these chilly winter nights :)
So happy to hear that Nicole! Thanks :)
We loved this!! We were looking for a way to introduce Indian food (and Turmeric) into our diet without going ‘all in’. This is a beautiful, colorful, hearty dish. My husband would like more protein so he suggested adding more lentils or other beans (or smoked turkey sausage, which would defeat the vegetarian aspect!). It was a joy to watch and smell this stew coming together!
I’m so glad to hear it was such a hit! Thanks for your review :)
Even though I love the recipes on this page, this is not Indian food. And, Indian food is much more than turmeric :)
Do you think it would be possible to make this in a crockpot?
Yes I do! I’m not sure on timing though. I would sauté the aromatics first ?
Hi I just made this and I’m wondering if you can freeze the leftovers?
Hey Lisa, yes you sure can! :)
Hi! Looks super yummy. If I would like to make this in a slow cooker, what would you suggest?
Hey Stephanie, I would sauté the aromatics first (to avoid them being crunchy in the final cooked dish) then I’d probably cook on low for 9 hours or so or high for 5-ish (all guesses!) you can add the greens during the last 1/2-1 hour cooking too
This was really lovely! I appreciate the curry feel with the nutritional benefits of all those healthy veggies. For the most part I followed the recipe exactly and it came out great. My supermarket didn’t have red lentils so I used green- next time I think I would double the amount (or try the red and see if it’s different). I also added a can of chickpeas in addition to the lentils and enjoyed it. I was a bit heavy handed with the spices and regret it because it’s a little too hot for me now- heed her spice warning!
I love your recipe tweaks Jennifer! Thanks for sharing your feedback :)
This was absolutely delicious.
Thanks Melanee!
I made this recipe for the first time when we had my brothers over and everyone gobbled it up! I made it again -doubled this time and sent to my mom who was sick with a cold and she said it was exactly what she needed?? The we had my husbands friend over and pulled this out of the fridge – he had seconds! so my double recipe was put to good use:) Made another double recipe this week and it’s been the perfect winter food to have around. Thanks Angela!
I love reading your story of the traveling soup!! Hah. So sweet you share it with so many. Thanks Hadassa!
So good! I subbed a Tbsp of mild curry powder for the spices (still added the salt and pepper) and spinach as the green. I was so excited to eat it, I almost forgot the spinach! I also used a potato masher to smash up the sweet potato and squash a bit to thicken.
Since making this for my daughter’s birthday, it has been my new favorite recipe. Love the fragrance as it cooks and the taste over basmati rice is soooo delicious.
I LOVE this stew. I used paprika instead of cayenne and also added chili flakes to add a nice oompf. I added a bay leaf when simmering to amp up flavour and it was amazing. I love this.