Crockpot Deliciousness

Cooking with crockpots (also called slow cookers) is amazing. You throw in a bunch of ingredients, turn it on, and a delicious meal is ready for you when you get home from work. It's almost like it cooks itself! Oh wait...it does :)

Since a bunch of us didn't have plans for Friday night dinner this week we threw together a potluck. I was in charge of making a main dish, and since I Shabbat is so early now I knew I wouldn't have too much time to cook. Hence, I decided to use my crockpot.

This is a dump recipe--throw everything in, stir it up, then let the crockpot work its magic. I wanted something hearty and hot (cold weather and all), but also wanted there to be substantial meat so I threw a London broil in on top of my stew. It cooked up beautifully, succulent and juicy (you can also just use stewing beef).

Crockpot Lentil Stew

Ingredients:

1 lb lentils, sorted and rinsed
1 can chickpeas
28 oz can diced tomatoes (I like fire roasted)
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 cups beef stock
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 lb London broil  or stewing beef

Directions:

1. Pour all ingredients except meat into crockpot and stir to mix.
2. Lay meat on top of stew mix and push down until just submerged (if using stewing beef, stir into crockpot mixture).
   
3. Cook on high 4-6 hours or on low 8-10 hours.

The cost:
lentils: 1.00
onion: .45
carrots: .20
celery: .20
stock: 2.39
meat: 10.99

Grand total: $15.23; serves 6-8