5:2 Scottish Stew (201 calories)

A few weeks ago I attempted to make a 200 calorie stew roughly based on Lavender & Lovage's Highland Stew. I didn't have any barley at the time, so I really upped the lentil amount and the whole thing ended up a pile of brown-gray mush. Tasty mush, but it did not look very appetizing!

So I went back to her recipe and worked a lot closer to it this time, mostly just changing the weight amounts to cup measurements. And we ended up with a delicious and colorful dish! Next time I will probably switch to red lentils so the cooking time isn't as long, and regular barley (if I can find it!), but in the meantime I wanted to share the current recipe.



(For those of you counting calories, I've added the amount for each ingredient so you can easily make tweaks without having to re-calculate everything. Anything marked with an asterisk* will vary a lot based on what you buy, so make sure to compare your label.)

4 cups water (0)
2 cups potato, small cubes (200)
1 cup diced onion (60)
1 cup carrots, chopped (52)
1 cup celery, thinly sliced (20)
1 Tbsp. minced garlic (0)
1 Tbsp./3 cubes chicken bouillon (20)

1/3 cup dried green or brown lentils (93)
1/3 cup quick cooking barley (160)
4 oz. turkey kielbasa (200*)
1/2 tsp. salt (0)


1) In a large pot, add the water, potato, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and bouillon. Bring to a boil over high heat.

2) Reduce the heat to a simmer and add the lentils. Simmer 45 minutes.

3) Stir in the barley and kielbasa and cook for 15 minutes. Serves 4.

Calories - 201 for 1/4