Vegetable, Red Lentil and Mini Turkey Meatballs Stew

My Mother is in the last year of her 80's and, thankfully, is still healthy and active.  She isn't cooking very much for herself from scratch any longer, however, and basically opens cans and has trouble eating anything that requires a lot of chewing.  I often make a large eight quart stockpot full of soup or stew for her, so that I can make multiple one quart servings for her to freeze and then later re-heat as she needs them. I always try to make the recipes as full of vegetables and protein as I can to make it nutritious, and if I add meat I make sure it is lean and easy to chew.

When Knorr's offered, through BlogHer, to send a package of their new condensed Chicken Homestyle Stock product for us to try, and enter in their "Four Recipe Contest" I was excited to have the opportunity and knew I would make good use of it.  The package contained four tubs that were slightly larger than an ounce each of chicken flavor with other natural flavor low fat cholesterol free, stock, each with no added MSG.

As you can see from the directions on the box, each tub can be reconstituted with 3 1/2 cups of boiling water to make that measurement of stock.  It can also be reconstituted with any liquid, such as fruit juices or ciders. It can also be used undiluted as a poultry rub, stirred into 3 cups cooking liquid of pasta or rice to add flavor to those dishes, or stirred into pan drippings to make a gravy.  Its small size makes storage easy, and there is no waste.

When I received my package of Knorr's Homestyle chicken Stock I decided to make a vegetable rich stew that contained lentils, mini turkey meatballs and whole wheat pasta so that it would be a complete "meal in a bowl" for my Mom.

Vegetable, Red Lentil, Pasta and Mini Turkey Meatball Stew

Prep time: one hour

Cooking Time: one hour

Serves: 14, two cup servings

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons olive oil

Three stalks celery, chopped small

Four large carrots, chopped small
One large onion, chopped small
One large red pepper, chopped small
Two garlic cloves, crushed and minced

Two pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

One pound package of dried red lentils, sorted over and rinsed.

Two tubs of Knorr's condensed Chicken Homestyle Stock

Seven cups of water.

Two teaspoons ground ginger

Two teaspoons cumin
Two teaspoons turmeric
Two teaspoons red chili paste
One teaspoon garam masala

Turkey Meatball additions:

One pound ground turkey meat

Two eggs, beaten slightly

1/4 grated Pecorino Romano cheese
One half cup seasoned bread crumbs
Two tablespoons dried parsley

One teaspoon of ground black pepper

Cooked separately and added as final ingredients:

Two pounds of spinach, rinsed and boiled in 1/2 cup water

Thirteen and a quarter ounces whole wheat rotini (or any small bite size pasta of choice) boiled separately in water according to package directions, minus two minutes, two cups of pasta water reserved in case it is needed.

Procedure:

Saute the chopped celery, carrots, onion and red pepper in the three tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat, stirring well frequently.

When the vegetables are translucent, after around ten minutes, add the minced garlic and turn heat down to low.

Add the cubed sweet potatoes, and seven cups of water. Bring heat higher and bring to a boil.  Add the two tubs of Knorr's Chicken Stock and stir well.

Turn the heat to medium/low and add the red lentils to the pot and add all spices. Allow to come to a low boil/simmer, stirring occasionally, and cook ten minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the turkey meatball ingredients together and form into small 3/4 inch meatballs.

Begin to boil the water to cook the pasta. 

Quickly add the turkey meatballs to the pot one by one, gently stirring now and then to submerge them in the stock. Cover the pot and keep the stew cooking on a low boil, adjusting the heat as needed. Allow to simmer 35 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Boil the spinach in a another pot with the half cup of water and drain well. Add cooked spinach to the stew. Boil the pasta in the separate pot of boiling water for two minutes less than package directions, then drain, reserving two cups of the pasta water to add to the stew as needed to keep a liquid consistency. Stir well, and cover. Cook on a low simmer another five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Ladle about two cups of the stew into a bowl and serve.  I like to grate extra Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese on top of each serving.

The vegetables and lentils really incorporate well into the delicious Knorr Homestyle Chicken Stock and become a creamy consistency. The spices add the perfect extra punch of flavor without making the stew too spicy and they enhance the sweet potato flavor.  The lentils, meatballs and whole wheat pasta make this a filling, nutritious and delicious meal!

This is a photo I took the last time I made soup for my Mom to take home. to freeze.  I allow the soup to cool and place it in one quart containers so she has enough for a few meals in each one. You can do this with your favorite soups or stews for yourself, a new mother, someone who is recuperating from an illness or surgery or a new neighbor.  It's a wonderful way to share some love!

Thanks to Knorr and BlogHer for allowing me to take part in the Knorr Four Recipe Contest with this entry!  I am looking forward to seeing what all the other participants have done with their sample of the Knorr Concentrated Homestyle Chicken stock over on the special Blogher Four Recipe Contest, and I'm sure you'll want to check in too! Anyone can enter this contest up until July 15, 2011--read the rules at this link.

I am also adding this link on Michael Lee's blog Designs By Gollum for her wonderful "Foodie Friday" event! Besides Michael's always creative food entry, there are always wonderful recipes and food events linked up on her event every week--be sure to check it out!

 

The Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest

It was a hot and steamy forth of July holiday here in New York City, and my husband and I decided to take the subway, which runs above ground in some locations in Brooklyn, over to Coney Island.

(All photos will enlarge when clicked on once, and then clicked again when they reopen)

 

There, between Surf Avenue and Stillwell Avenues, we decided to join the crowd to watch the famous Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest!  Nathan’s Famous was founded by a Polish immigrant, Nathan Handwerker. He started his business with a small hot dog stand and sold hot dogs that were manufactured based on a recipe developed by his wife, Ida.

Nathan's has been an institution in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York since 1916 and they are now located in all 50 states. Every year they sell over 425 million Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs!  According to legend, on July 4, 1916, four immigrants had a hot dog eating contest at Nathan's Famous stand on Coney Island to settle an argument about who was the most patriotic. The contest has been held at the site nearly every year since, resuming in 1972, in conjunction with Independence Day.

When we arrived the crowd was already in the tens of thousands! This was as close as we could get to the stage area where the contest was to take place.

 

Everyone was anticipating watching the rivals compete in this famous eating event!

An overhead blimp took the photo below of the crowd which was shown on the giant TV screen.

We were standing in the crowd near the white truck on the right, where the TV screen was located.  Can you see us? Last year the crowd was 40,000 strong -- I wonder if we helped break a record this year?

 

There was music and festivities going on while we waited for the event to begin.

Finally, at 11:30 AM the announcer, George Shea, from Major League Eating, was raised into the air in a cherry picker to announce the beginning of the women's hot dog eating contest.  This was the first year there was a separate woman's competition.

The women and judges in position before the competition began as seen on the big screen.  I was surprised to see during their introductions that many of the women contestants were petite and weighed only 100 pounds! How do they manage to eat so many hot dogs?

It was then amazing to see how many full hot dogs and buns they were able to consume in the ten minutes allotted time! The winner was the woman on the right in the photo above, Sonya Thomas, of Alexandria, Virginia, who ate 40 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes.

In between the women and men's competition we were entertained by aerial acrobats.

 

 Next, at twelve noon, the men's hot dog eating contest began. There were competitive eaters from China, Denmark, Canada and all around the USA entered into the contest. The favorite to win was Joey Chestnut, a California native who was the defending champion four times from 2007-10,

He did it again!  Chestnut devoured 62 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes!

You can watch this Youtube video of the men's competition.

Every year Nathan's donates 100,000 hot dogs to the New York Food Bank as part of the festivities.

After watching the event many in the crowd got on the Nathan's lines to purchase a few hot dogs for themselves. 

We were no exception!

Then we took a long walk along the boardwalk.

Since it was a holiday, and the weather was hot, the beach and ocean were very crowded. This view shows some of the amusement rides in the background, including the famous Wonder Wheel.  If you missed my post about my exciting ride on the Wonder Wheel you can read it at this link!

I love this close up photo I took of all the colorful umbrellas. Even a spot on the beach is prime real estate in New York City!

 

There was a steamy haze over the ocean but the water was cool and many were enjoying a swim or a sail.

Watching a hot dog eating contest, a couple of hot dogs, walk on the board walk, a few rides and a quick dip in the ocean ....all in all, it was a fun way to spend a 4th of July!

I'm linking to Outdoor Wednesday event on Susan's blog A Southern Dreamer and Jenny Matlock's Alphabe Thursday event for the letter "L" for "Lots of hot dogs!"