It’s the New Year, so expect to be inundated with ads and posts from meno-diet charlatans claiming they have “broken the menopause diet code.” That’s medical gibberish, but the closest translation is they’ve figured out how to convert patriarchal messages about the body into cash, but with a menopause twist. Many of them will claim they have the answer to remove the fat that tends to accumulate around the middle in menopause, but they don’t. You can read more about what we do know about that phenomenon here. It’s important to point out that the people promoting “special diets” for menopause have typically cherry picked the research and none of them have produced studies to support their claims.

The best eating plan for menopause is <queue the dramatic music!>…the best eating plan for overall health. I realize this isn’t sexy and exciting, nor does it sell meal plans and supplements, but then again I have ethics.

In my quest to improve my health (it’s a work in progress), I spent a good portion of 2022 leaning into legumes and along the way I’ve become a total lentil convert! I published my French Lentil Nirvana recipe earlier this year and received many lovely replies from people who told me they have added it into their rotation or who used it as a lentil gateway for their families. If you haven’t tried it, you can find it and the story behind the recipe here. And yes Chef Keller, I’m still waiting for my lentil-off.

Today I made my Pardina lentil stew, and my partner, who affectionately refers to himself online as Dr. Jen Adjacent (he does have an actual name which he uses IRL), proclaimed it was a keeper, so I thought I’d share it with you. There is both a chicken and a vegan version. If you’re looking to dabble in vegan food, this a good starter recipe because the potato and mushrooms make it hearty and meaty-ish. The chicken version is a great way to introduce lentils to suspicious offspring (“Ewww, lentils,” mine told me, but this dish changed their minds). And like all stews it tastes even better the next day.

What are Pardina lentils? Little brown lentils that are also known as Spanish brown lentils. They look like the green Le Puy lentils, but they’re brown (lol). I discovered they existed purely by accident. When I was first looking for Le Puy lentils to make my French Lentil Nirvana I made a rookie lentil mistake and found myself with a rather large sack of Palouse Pardina lentils (you can find them here). So, I played around with them, so to speak, and came up with this stew.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 yellow or white onion, diced
3 medium carrots, roughly diced (I’m lazy and it’s stew, so feel free to just slice)
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp olive oil
1 ½ lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into bite sized cubes (or for the vegan version, 12 ounces of sliced mushrooms, which is the size of one of those bags of pre-sliced mushrooms at Safeway, I use the portobello ones).
Splash of white wine (1-2, tbsp, I suppose)
1 large Idaho potato, peeled and cubed
Cherry tomatoes, 10 ounces, cut in half (this was one packages of cherry tomatoes, a little more or less will be just fine)
1 cup Pardina (brown) lentils
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
½ tsp paprika
⅛-¼ tsp red chili flakes
1 -1 ½ tsp salt (depending on how salty you like things)
4 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock for the vegan version)
½ cup roughly chopped Italian parsley and a little more reserved for garnish
½ lemon

Heat the sauce pan (I use a Le Creuset) on medium high and then when it’s nice and hot add 2 tbsp of olive oil.
Add the onion and carrots and sauté for 5-7 minutes (until the onions get a golden brown color).
Add the garlic and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Transfer the cooked onion/carrots/garlic to another bowl. Add the last tbsp olive oil to the pan, sprinkle the chicken with ½ tsp of the salt and add to the pan and cook, stirring now and then.
1. For the vegan version, skip the chicken…obviously (said like Severus Snape). Keep the veggies in the pan and just the mushroom and add another tbsp of the olive oil and ½ tsp of salt and sauté for 4-5 minutes).
When the chicken is browned on all sides (about 4-5 minutes), push it to the edges of the pan and add a splash of white wine and deglaze the yummy stuff stuck to the pan.
1. For the vegan version, just add the splash of white wine.
Add back the cooked onion mix that you had in a bowl and stir it all up.
1. If you are making the vegan version, you don’t have to do this!
Add the cumin, coriander, paprika, and chili flakes (I use between 1/8 and 1/4 tsp) and mix it all up and sauté for another minute or so.
Add the potatoes, tomatoes, and lentils and mix it all up.
Add 4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock.
Add the ½ cup chopped parsley and another ½ tsp salt. Give it a good stir or two.
Cover and simmer for 20 minutes (I give it a stir once or twice to make sure it’s not too hot and the lentils aren’t sticking and burning, because I hate that).
Uncover and simmer for another 10-15 minutes until the lentils are done (they should be soft). Add more salt if you need.
Put into bowls, squeeze a little lemon over top and sprinkle with parsley for garnish. I like to serve with a slice of toasted good quality sourdough (Dr. Jen Adjacent makes it every week, so I’m lucky that way and in many other ways).
Enjoy!

Serves 5-6.

If you make this, please tag me on social media and if you are a subscriber, let me know your thoughts in the comments! And if you like the recipes, please “like” this post, so I know to publish more.

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The Vajenda

Chicken Lentil Stew (with a vegan option!)