Pumpkin and lentil stew

I am having trouble naming this dish.  Is it a curry?  Kinda.  Is it a soup or stew? Kinda both.  Is it delicious, so delicious that I dare to say it is one of the top five soup/stew creations I have ever made?  Kinda absolutely.

I think the major contributing factor is that I roasted the vegetables first.  I give credit to a co-worker friend who tipped me off to this idea.  Thanks, C!

So, I had some leftover pumpkin that really needed to be cooked.  I looked online and everywhere says that you have to cook any cut pumpkin within 2-3 days or it will spoil, and you cannot freeze it without cooking it first.  Well, interweb, I defied you and went a whole week and a half before cooking my pumpkin and it was a-okay.  No spoilage, nothing.  So there.  It can be done.

First step is to roast the veggies.  I chose to do the pumpkin, onion, carrot, and cauliflower.  Toss it with a smidgen of olive oil or vegetable broth to coat and make sure it will not stick to the pan (too much, anyway).  I sprinkled some fresh dried basil and gave it a final toss, then into the oven at 400 degrees it went for about 40 minutes.

I also roasted a head of garlic.  Just peel off the outer papery layers, chop off the top, and wrap in foil.  I usually drizzle some vegetable broth or water over the head so it will have some moisture locked in the foil pouch.  Stick that in the oven at 400 for 40 minutes, too.  When it is ready, it will be soft with a nice golden color:

When ready to make the soup (veggies can be roasted a day ahead of time), chop up some additional veggies of your choice.

I just had some celery with tops and red bell pepper (I wish I had roasted the bell pepper, too!).  Other ingredients include brown lentils,  2 cubes of no salt added vegetable bouillon or vegetable broth, 1 bay leaf, cumin, and Moroccan Seasoning  (McCormick Ras El Hanout is great for a quick mix!)  (or individual spices: cinnamon, cumin, coriander, ginger, cardamom, black pepper, white pepper, red pepper, paprika, and turmeric), and Bragg's Liquid Aminos.  

Bring water to a boil.  You should have enough water to cover the lentils and veggies when added--I had roughly 8 cups to start (I think.  Use 4 cups water 4 cups vegetable broth, if going that route).

Throw in the lentils (1 cup), spices, vegetable bouillon, bay leaf, celery, and Bragg's and let simmer for 20-30 minutes, until lentils are soft.  Then add the roasted veggies, red pepper and garlic paste (squeeze out all the soft garlicky goodness from about 6 cloves and lightly mix to make a paste).  Let simmer for another 20 minutes or so.  Keep covered if you want a soupy consistency, uncovered if you want a thicker stew-like consistency.

Per usual, I was impatient and ready to eat so mine is pretty soupy but I really liked it that way.  The broth flavor of this dish was amazing and I really think it is because of the roasted veggies and garlic.  They just have a much deeper flavor than if all the veggies were thrown into the soup raw.  This could be served over any type of whole grain to make it even more stew-like, if you want.  I hope yours is as good as mine because I seriously could not stop eating it!  And at 300 calories per serving (according to My Fitness Pal, if this recipe were to serve 4), it is not only plant-strong but completely guilt-free.