HOW DO YOU MAKE A HEALTHY, HEARTY LENTIL STEW?

It is cold here, and I love it! Of course, we don't have the lovely look of winter that many of you have. We have no snow blanketing the cars and treetops, but it is pretty darn chilly here and thats about as close to winter as we are going to get! So, after driving back from a whirlwind  (less than 24 hours) trip to Austin yesterday, I did not have the energy to go to the grocery store, but I wanted something healthy and hearty for dinner. After raiding the fridge, the extra freezer and my pantry, I came up with these ingredients:
1 package of ground turkey
1 bag carrots
1 bag of beautiful red lentils
1 large yellow onion
2 large cloves of garlic
3 (1 quart) boxes of organic chicken stock
1 can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste

I don't know about you, but to me, those ingredients practically screamed: CURRIED TURKEY LENTIL STEW

I may not look pretty, but I taste great!

These are the spices I used (but feel free to get creative with whatever you like or have on hand):
garam masala
curry
cumin
red pepper
salt
black pepper

WARNING: This makes a giant pot of stew and is pretty thick. If you'd like yours to be soupier,
add extra broth. The lentils soak up a ton of liquid as they cook, and I ended up adding quart after quart of chicken stock until I found the right balance.

Instructions:
Heat olive oil in saute pan. Add diced carrots (about 1- 11/2 cups), chopped onion, and grated garlic to hot oil.
Stir and saute until onions start to brown and carrots begin to soften. Add a tablespoon of cumin to the pan as well and stir well.
Add ground turkey and cook together until all of the turkey is cooked (no more pink showing).
In a large stockpot, heat up the chicken broth and tomato paste and stewed tomatoes. Add lentils and stir.
Add 3-4 tablespoons garam masala and 3 tablespoons curry. Add 1-2 teaspoons red pepper and black pepper and salt to taste.
The lentils take about 30-40 minutes to fully soften. When they have, add turkey/veggie mixture and more chicken stock and continue to simmer as long as you like.
Along the way, taste the spices and adjust accordingly.
For those of you who like your food spicy, add a hot sauce like Tabasco or Frank's RedHot, when you serve.
Enjoy and stay warm!!!!