Sun Cooking

Thanks to some inspiration from Kate and Phil, I am now the owner of this awesome solar oven!

Lentils are cooking away....

My first full fledged meal that I cooked this week in my new oven was this Lentil Stew:

Sun Oven Lentil Stew

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
3 cups celery root, peeled and chopped
2 cups rutabaga, peeled and chopped
1 pound brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 tablespoon herbes de Provence
8 cups vegetable broth
1 bunch kale, ribs removed, leaves coarsely chopped

Preparation
Set Global Sun Oven out to preheat. Remove the leveling tray and place a rack or trivet on the floor of the cooking chamber.
Heat the oil in a large (6 quart) light weight, dark pot. Add the onion, carrots, celery root, and rutabaga; sauté until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lentils and herbes de Provence. Add broth and kale. Cover and transfer pot to the Sun Oven. Cook until the lentils are tender, about 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Makes 8 servings.


Instead of herbes de Provence (what are those anyway?) I threw in some cumin (my favorite spice) and oregano, along with some cinnamon and salt and pepper.  With the low winter sun, my oven isn't heating up over 250 degrees, so after cooking for 4 hours, I had to bring the pot inside and finish it up in the oven, but it was delicious, non the less.  Abel has dubbed my oven as "mom's toy."  And  he's right--this is going to be a fun thing to play with all year long.