Slow Cooker Lentil, Barley and Mushroom Stew

Credit: Monica Miller

Lentil and barley stew will boost your potassium

Here’s a slow-cooked veggie stew that is high in potassium, low in cholesterol and full of fibre

My friend was recently told he had low potassium levels and since he’s diabetic, bananas (with all that natural sugar) were out. I started looking around for other foods that were high in potassium, and came up with lentils. I am a vegetarian so meat recipes were out too.

With all these restrictions, I had to combine several recipes and tweek them quite a bit. But once I was decided on the ingredients, all I had to do was toss everything into a slow cooker.

Ingredients

• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 4 large carrots, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 can lentils, drained
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley
• 8 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• dash of rosemary (not too much)
• 1 tsp sage
• fresh ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Put all the incredients in the slow cooker and pour the broth over top.
2. Cook on high for 4-5 hours, or 6-8 hours on low.

Modifications

The barley makes a great and easy addition because you can put it in uncooked. Barley helps lower cholesterol, reduce heart disease and is a good source of insoluble fibre. Also, using vegetable broth allows the uncooked barley to absorb all those subtle flavours.

You can reduce the sodium further by adding water instead of broth. For example, 6 cups broth, 2 cups water, or 4 cups broth, 4 cups water. Adjust the seasonings, spices and herbs to taste.

Monica Miller is a writer, reader, editor, designer and crafter. She blogs at Monniblog.com about books, knitting, jewellery and life in general. She lives in Vancouver.