Vegetarian Curry Stew-ish Dish

I may be creative, but when it comes to cooking, I'm not one to throw caution to the wind. I like recipes, measurements, and other people's reviews (I take those recipe stars seriously).         


My housemate, Mattie, however is a cooking master. She can open the fridge, grab eight things that clearly would never naturally blend and make a new dish to salivate over, like Thai Curry Split Pea Soup. I mean, come on! 


Yesterday, however, was my time to throw caution to the wind, well, as much as can be thrown in a kitchen. 


I was on a mission, to make a vegetarian curry stew.


I enjoyed such a stew at a friend's home a few weeks ago. I tried to get the recipe, but to no avail. I tried to access the recesses of my mind for the exact ingredients, but my memory was failing me.


So, while grocery shopping, I decided to try and make up my own version, Mattie-style.


Here's what I did:


In a Crock pot (on high) I mixed...


a jar of...

Trader Joe's Curry Simmer Sauce

and a can of...

Trader Joe's Organic Diced Tomatoes

and about 1/2 of this...

Trader Joe's Steamed Lentils

**Though you should be warned, lentils can be potent, if you know what I mean. (insert giggle fit here)

AND then as many vegetables, diced, chopped and sliced, I could think of. 

This time around, I added about a cup each of...

cauliflower 

yellow and red peppers

carrots

yellow onion

frozen peas

and a pinch of salt. 

I left it cooking for 3 hours on high and when I returned this is what I found: 

mmmm....

So tasty! 

Turns out adding a whole can of Diced Tomatoes also adds a lot of liquids and so it turned out to be more 'stew-ish', than dish-ish. It was great by itself, but would have been equally great with Naan or rice. Also, the diced tomatoes diluted the spicy-ness. I was okay with that, but Mattie added some hot sauce to spice it up. She's spicy like that. 


Next time around I might also throw in some corn, potatoes, or celery to mix things up. (This would also be great with Trader Joe's Masala Simmer Sauce!)


So, there you go. I can now add "Veggie Curry Stew-ish Dish" to my rolodex of easy recipes. It will be nicely wedged between Uncle Ben's Rice and Whole Grain Pasta (both boiled).