Veggie, Lentil & Barley Skillet

My cousin Aubrey made this when she had a party at her house and I'll admit at first I was skeptical because I hadn't had lentils very often and wasn't sure I liked them enough to make a main course out of them.  But this is delicious, healthy, filling, vegetarian, and pretty easy to make.  And you will have tons left over if you're not serving it to a crowd, trust me!

Ingredients:

• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 cup dried lentils, sorted and rinsed
• 1 large carrot, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3/4 cup quick cooking barley
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 2 cans (14 oz each) vegetable broth, low sodium if you want
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 1 medium celery stalk, sliced
• 1 cup frozen corn, or 1 can of corn
• 1 can diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, undrained

In a large skillet (the largest you have is recommended, this makes A LOT) heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add lentils, carrot and onion, cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add barley, basil, pepper and broth.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes or until lentils are tender but still firm.

Stir in all remaining ingredients.  Increase heat a little, cover and simmer 10-15 minutes or until lentils and vegetables are tender and liquid is almost absorbed, stirring occasionally. 

Serve sprinkled with parmesan or mozzarella cheese.

The recipe says it makes 6 servings.  But I'd venture to say we got 8-10 servings out of it (depending on serving size of course).

Nutritional facts:  (this is from the original recipe, so based on 1 serving of 6)
225 calories, 3 g fat, 700 mg sodium (unless you use the low sodium broth), 13 g fiber, 6 g sugar, 12 g protein.