This delicious and hearty stew is so easy to pull together and let cook in your slow-cooker while at work. It makes a great one-pot meal that we love so much that we often double the recipe so we have leftovers for lunches.

The yams give this stew a sweet flavor and the addition of peanut butter gives it a creamy, rich taste. You can use canned chickpeas, or homemade. Prep time is about 20 minutes, which is why we tag it as a “Quick Meal”.

This recipe is adapted from ‘African Peanut Stew’ in Becoming Vegetarian. We’ve modified it to include more chickpeas and greens, and to use quinoa instead of rice. The recipe would work well with cashew butter in place of peanut, and we’re curious to try it with other grains like amaranth or teff.

The Stuff

• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cups peeled, diced yams
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas
• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
• 1/4-1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
• 2 bunches of kale or collards, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• tarmari or braggs, to taste

The Making

Sauté onions on medium heat until they are translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer onions to your slow-cooker pot.  Add chickpeas, yams, and veggie broth. Mix in peanut butter and add quinoa.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4.

30-60 minutes prior to serving, add chopped greens, lemon juice and black pepper.

Season with tarmari or Braggs aminos, to taste, at the table. Also great with a little hot sauce added!

This recipe is really an on-going quest for the best chickpea soup, with or without noodles. With my innate ability to make stews in big pots, this Provence inspired version is just what a wet, February night needs. This can easily be served over a grain or with pasta, but it is very nice all on it’s own.

I was inspired by two different recipes in coming up with this. The first being the Chickpea Noodle Soup in Veganomicon. The second being the Cabbage “Noodle” Soup from the Fat Free Vegan, Susan Voisin. This recipe falls somewhere in between the two and I add kale to thicken it into a hearty stew. It is absolutely packed with vitamins A, C and K!

The Stuff

• 1 large shallot, cut in quarters and sliced thin
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 medium carrots, diced small
• 4 medium stalks celery, diced small
• 3 leeks, white part, sliced into thin rounds
• 1/4 c mirin
• 3 cups cooked chickpeas (2 15oz. cans drained & rinsed)
• 2 small bay leaves
• 1/2 t thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 t herbes du Provence
• 1 t poultry seasoning
• black pepper to taste
• 10 cups water
• 1/2 medium head white or savoy-style cabbage cut in half, cored and shredded
• 8 cups kale, stemmed and shredded
• 1/4 c nutritional yeast
• 1/4 c white miso
• 1/4 c fresh Italian parsley, chopped

The Making

Heat an 8-quart stock pot to medium high and lightly spray with high-heat Canola oil. Add in shallot and garlic, sauteing for 5 minutes, or until becoming translucent and just beginning to brown. Add in carrot and celery. Saute for 3-5 minutes, until carrots are glistening. Add in leeks and saute 5-7 minutes, until leeks begin to brown and rings come apart.

Reduce heat to medium-low and deglaze pan with mirin. Stir wine and sauteed veggies together for 30 seconds.

Add in chickpeas, water, and dried herbs. Bring just to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add nutritional yeast, freshly ground black pepper,  cabbage and kale. Stir together and simmer for 10 minutes, until greens are softened.

Remove pot from heat and add fresh parsley. Remove a cup of the broth and in a bowl whisk miso into broth and add mixture into stew. Mix well and let stand 5 minutes, at least, before serving.

Makes 10 servings

Nutritional Info

Serving Size: 2 cups
Calories: 193
Total Fat: 3 g
Sodium: 385 mg
Carbohydrates: 36 g
Dietary Fiber: 9 g
Sugars: 8 g
Protein: 11 g

This winter it seems like we’ve always got a few yams on hand. So far they’ve inspired the Golden Provence Winter Stew, which has become a quick favorite, but I recently had several chilies on hand as well as a large quantity of black beans we’ve been trying to find more uses for. With these ingredients on hand I came up with this delicious, warm stew inspired by Cuban flavors.

The Stuff

• 2 medium yams, diced small
• 3 cups cooked black beans
• 1 large yellow onion, 1/4″ dice
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium green bell pepper, 1/4 dice
• 1 Ancho/Pasilla pepper, 1/4″ dice
• 1/2 t cumin seed
• 1 15oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 2.5 T tomato paste
• 5 cups water
• 1 T ground cumin
• 1 T dried oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 t cayenne
• 1/4 t ground coriander
• 1/2 t sweet smoked paprika
• 1 bunch collards, cut up small
• 1/3 cup fresh coriander leaves
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice

The Making

Heat a 8-quart stock-pot to medium-high heat and then lightly spray with Canola oil. Add cumin seeds and toast until fragrant, about 2 minutes or less. Add onion into the pot, lightly spritz with oil and saute 5 minutes, until onions become translucent. Add garlic and saute with onions another 5 minutes before adding all of the diced chilies. Saute all together another 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes, yams, dried herbs & spices and water to the pot. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 35 minutes, or until yams are tender. Add collards and tomato paste and stir in. Simmer for 15 minutes before adding in the fresh herbs and lime juice. Simmer for 5 more minutes before serving.

10 Servings

Nutritional Info

Serving Size: 2 cups
Calories: 191
Total Fat: 1 g
Sodium: 81 mg
Carbohydrates: 41g
Dietary Fiber: 8 g
Sugars: 3 g
Protein: 7 g

Yet another example of a stew/soup experiment that turned out so well, I had to put a recipe together!

This stew started out as a kind of “get out of my fridge” project after Thanksgiving. We get a big produce delivery every Monday and by Sunday I’m often trying to figure out a dish to use up as many veggies as possible. I also like to make a really big batch of something and we often have it as our lunches or a quick dinner during the week.

Aside from being just the kind of hearty, hot dish you want on a cold night, this stew is packed with vitamins and minerals and the French herbs pair beautifully with the veggies and navy beans. By the time the cooking is done the yams melt and the result is a thick, golden stew dotted with kale, parsley and carrots.

My favorite version is the one that is given, with lots of kale and fresh parsley. I’ve made a variation, pictured, with fresh thyme and white cabbage because that’s what I happened to have on hand that week. The cabbage & thyme variation is also really lovely, but I find it a bit sweeter.

The Stuff

• 3 cups dry navy beans
• 2 large leeks, whites only, sliced in quarter-inch rounds
• 2 medium red onions, half-inch dice
• 4 cloves garlic, diced small
• 3 large carrots, diced
• 4 large stalks celery, diced
• 4 small yams, diced
• 1 t Herbes de Provence
• 1 t dried thyme
• 2 large Bay leaves
• 8 cups water
• 1/3 c nutritional yeast
• 1 T champagne vinegar
• 1/2 c chopped, fresh parsley
• 1 large bunch of kale, stemmed and chopped up
• 2 T white miso
• freshly ground black pepper
• sea salt, to taste

The Making

Pressure Cooker Method:

Pre-cook navy beans in pressure cooker while you prep all the other ingredients. Plan to under cook the beans, only 14-15 minutes at full pressure. Let the pressure release normally. Drain and set aside.

While the beans cook prep all the vegetables.

After the pressure cooker is free, rinse out, dry and put back on stove on medium-high heat. When the pot is hot again, lightly spray bottom with canola oil and add the onions. Saute 5 minutes, until translucent, add garlic and saute another few minutes until the garlic becomes very fragrant.

Add the celery, carrots and leeks into the pot. Continue to saute in the pan for an additional five minutes. Add the yams, thyme, Herbes de Provence, and Bay leaves. Stir together well. Add in par-cooked beans and water, stir once more, and seal the pressure cooker.

Once cooker is at high heat set timer for 7 minutes. Use the release valve to reduce pressure and unlock the lid (it is also fine to just let it come down & unlock naturally).

Stir in the nutritional yeast, pepper, salt, vinegar, parsley and kale. Simmer on low heat for five minutes. Remove from heat and mix in the miso.

Stove-top Method:

The main difference is that you’ll soak the beans overnight and drain them. Once you add them back in, you’ll need to reduce the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes, or until the beans are tender. Then follow the steps to add in the kale, fresh parsley, etc.

Serve in a big bowl and add some kind of grainy thing if you want. Rice, whole grain bread, crackers…

Makes 20 servings (freeze some, give some away!)

Nutrition Details

Serving Size: 1 cup
Calories: 188
Total Fat: 1.2g
Sodium: 146 mg
Carbohydrates: 36g
Dietary Fiber: 11g
Sugars: 3g
Protein: 11g

This time of year there are more tomatoes than I know what to do with, zucchini everywhere, lovely peppers and kale. Chopping it all up and throwing it into a pot is clearly the way forward. This hearty stew, so thick it is more of a stove top casserole, highlights the best of the late summer harvest.

Summer’s Bounty Stew

The Stuff

• 2 cups cooked chickpeas
• 3 medium zucchini, chopped (about 4 cups)
• 6 cloves garlic, minced roughly
• 1 medium onion, sliced into thin petals
• 1 poblano pepper, diced fine
• 2 bunches of kale, stemmed and torn into small pieces
• 2 pounds of fresh tomatoes, chopped into pieces of varying size (a nice mix of large and rather small bits is perfect)
• 1 t dried oregano
• 1 t dried basil
• 1 t dried marjoram
• ½ t dried rosemary, rubbed together in your palm to break it up a little
• ⅓ c nutritional yeast
• 1 t sweet paprika
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste

The Making

Heat a 4 qt sauce pan or cast iron dutch oven on medium-high (if using cast iron, reduce to medium-low once the pot is hot).

Lightly spray the pot with canola oil. Saute onion until it begins to brown, about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and continue to saute another 3-5 minutes; onions will begin to caramelize. Add poblano pepper and saute for another 5 minutes. Add in zucchini, chickpeas, and tomatoes.

Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, until zucchini is tender. Add kale and all the herbs and spices then simmer until kale has softened, another 5 minutes.

Serve with some crusty bread or with quinoa.

Makes 3+ quarts of very tasty stew.

Notes:

• Yes, fresh herbs would totally rock. I just didn’t have any on hand. Next year we’ll have an herb garden going. I’d use up to a tablespoon of each herb, fresh. Parsley would be a great addition.
• This recipe reminds me a lot of the Japanese-inspired winter stew I make, which uses canned tomatoes. They would work perfectly well in this recipe, however, my main goal was to use up some of the pounds and pounds of fresh tomatoes from our garden.
• I use a mix of heirloom tomatoes, because that’s what we grow in the garden. Don’t worry if these are far too expensive to consider — just use any fresh tomatoes or go ahead and used canned, diced tomatoes.
• You could replace the sweet paprika with smoked paprika and it would be delicious. I think I sometimes go a little crazy with the smoked paprika so I skipped it this time.
• Want a spicier stew? Replace the paprika with cayenne and add a ½ teaspoon dried chili flakes – this would be fantastic too!

Nasty Flash + Ugly Counters

By the bye — check out the much better picture I used at the top of this post! Christie gave me a light tent set for my birthday so I can start taking better pictures of my food and art work. I still have a lot to learn about this kind of photography, but even the first attempt with the light tent on the picture above is so much better! For proof take a look at the best possible picture I was able to take at night in my kitchen.

On our last stock-up trip out to Bob’s Red Mill we picked up some of their Whole Grains & Beans Soup Mix. It has been sitting awaiting inspiration in a Mason jar since, but tonight’s the night! This hearty, thick stew is what a chilly January night needs!

The Stuff

• 2 smallish celeriac, peeled
• 2 large stalks of celery
• 3 large carrots
• a bunch of spinach, long stems removed
• fresh parsley (about 1/2 cup, chopped)
• 4 medium/smallish red, waxy-type potatoes
• 3 large cloves of garlic
• a good-sized onion
• 3 cups of the Whole Grains & Beans Soup Mix from Bob’s Red Mill
• 1 tsp. dried marjoram
• 1/2 tsp dried dill
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 tsp sweet paprika
• 2 T champagne vinegar
• freshly ground pepper

The Making

All the veggies except the spinach and parsley get a rough dice. The garlic is roughly minced.

Heat up an 8qt. (or larger) pressure cooker on high. Into the hot pot add a thin layer of spray canola oil, then the diced onions. Once they started to go translucent, about 3 minutes, add the garlic and saute until the onions began to brown, about 6 more minutes.

Then add the celery, celeriac, carrots, and potatoes into the pot. Then pour in the Grains & Beans Soup Mix and 3 quarts of water.

On goes the lid. Up to high pressure and then turned down, with the timer set for 2o minutes. Remove from heat when the timer goes off and let the pressure come down naturally.

While the pressure cooker is going wash the spinach and parsley. Roughly chop the spinach and more finely chop the parsley.

Once the lid comes off return the pot to low and add the remaining ingredients. Stir and let simmer for 15-20 more minutes before serving.

*Notes:

• This intentionally does not have added salt. If you feel it needs some, sparingly add it at the table or just add more nutritional yeast.
• This is a pretty seriously thick stew. We kind of like them that way. If you don’t, add some more water.
• White wine would be tasty as would red in place of the vinegar. You could also use the juice of one lemon instead.
• Kale, collards, chard or other greens would be great. I happened to have spinach on hand.
• This would be awesome with summer veggies, the Grains & Beans mix from Bob’s would go well with all kinds of veggies and it would make an extra-hearty minestrone-style soup – yum!
• All fresh herbs would rock, but it is January and I only had fresh parsley around.
• I’d likely add a couple of Bay leaves to this at the beginning the next time around.
• Winter squash would be awesome in this too.
• I’m not sure how long this would take without a pressure cooker, but you can look at this recipe for an idea (warning, #NotVegan).

Christie asked me this weekend what recipe I used for chili and I had to fess up that it was a dish I just made up each time. No recipe used, just threw stuff in a pot until it was done.

So in honor of getting back to some posts after a break while I adjusted to my new job, here’s a recipe for chili. Serve this with some cornbread or brown rice for a very hearty, warming meal on a cold winter’s night!

The Stuff

• 6 cups of cooked beans (if using canned beans, aprox. 4 cans, make sure to rinse well first)
• 3 15oz cans of tomato sauce
• 2 15oz cans of diced tomatoes (I like using the fire-roasted kind with green chilies)
• 1 large onion, medium dice
• 2 green bell peppers, medium dice (or 1 bell and 2 Anaheim chilies)
• 5 large cloves garlic, chopped fine
• 2 Tablespoons chili powder
• 2 Tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika (sweet or hot, depending on your preference)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• salt – to taste (if your canned tomatoes are salted you will probably not need any)

The Making

Bring a good sized stock pot (e.g., 8qt) up to medium-high heat and lightly coat with oil (e.g., high heat, spray canola). Add diced onions and saute for 5-8 minutes, letting them get dark in places is fine. Add garlic and continue to saute well for another 3 minutes. Add bell pepper and reduce heat to medium, saute for another 3-5 minutes

Add the rest of the ingredients, starting with all the tomato items. Fill each empty can half full of water, swish around to get all the tomato-y goodness, dump into the chili, and give a good stir.

Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for at least 30 minutes to let flavors blend. If the chili comes up to a bubble, reduce heat fully to low. A longer simmer is best before serving, the flavors really come together nicely.

Options:

• Mix it up on those 6 cups of beans! Try a mix of pintos, black beans, Anasazi beans, kidney beans, navy beans, chickpeas, etc.
• Throw in a cup of broken up bits of Soy Curls. They will rehydrate nicely in the chili and add a great chewy texture.
• Serve over roasted potato wedges
• Use as filling for enchiladas (this recipe makes a very stew-like chili)
• Pair with a big ol’ wedge of cornbread, crusty whole wheat bread or some brown rice
• Top with a generous dollop of guacamole

Just what a cold day needs...

Hotpot stews, like gomamiso-yosenabe, are a type of winter dish popular in Japan. I’d had one of Napa cabbage, glass noodles and dumplings when I ate at Cha Ya in San Francisco in 2008 and loved it. With the bounty of this year’s winter squash harvest (thanks to Christie’s insistence on growing it) I wanted to go a different direction with the squash stews I’d been making and thought it would be fun & tasty to use red miso and sesame to make a rich, Japanese inspired hearty dish.

The Stuff

• 2 Tablespoons canola or olive oil
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 4 carrots, cut into thick rounds
• 2 large stalks celery, diced
• 4 cups winter squash cut into 1-2″ cubes
• 1 28oz can Muir Glen fire-roasted, diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup red miso
• 1 Tablespoon black sesame seeds (white is fine, black is more dramatic)
• 4 cups cooked Aduki beans
• 1 medium head Savoy-style cabbage chopped into large pieces
• 2 Tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 2 Tablespoons brown rice vinegar
• 8 cups water or broth

The Making

Saute onions on medium-high heat in a large metal pot with canola oil until the onions begin to go translucent (about 5 minutes), then add garlic. Continue to saute the garlic and onions until they begin to brown (about 5 more minutes) then add in carrots, celery and winter squash. Saute all veggies together for 5 minutes, add sesame seeds, and 8 cups of water or broth. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer together until squash is tender (20 – 40 minutes depending upon type of squash used).

Once the winter squash is tender add into the pot, remove a cup or two of the broth and mix with miso, then pour in and stir. Add the cooked Aduki beans, chopped cabbage, the Muir Glen diced tomatoes, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Cover pot and simmer for 15 additional minutes to allow beans to absorb flavor and for cabbage to cook completely.

Serve stew with a steamed grain (brown rice or barley) or some crusty, whole-grain bread.

**I make this with great success in the pressure cooker. Instead of reducing heat to simmer, put lid on and bring up to pressure, then reduce heat & set timer. Using Delicata squash it takes 7 minutes. Hubbard squash take more like 9 minutes on full pressure. After that step I add the pressure cooked veggies into another pot containing the cabbage, beans and sesame oil. The intense heat of the pressure cooked veggies pretty much cooks the cabbage immediately.

The Stuff

• 3 leeks, sliced in 1/2 inch rounds & rinsed well
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large golden beets, diced
• 4 medium carrots, diced
• 4-5 large stalks celery, diced
• 1/2 small white cabbage sliced into big shreds (about 2 cups)
• 3 cups cooked Great Northern beans
• 2 T olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

This is truly a “Nothing but food porn” kind of post. Immediately after the post that I’d be making all kinds of updates for Vegan MoFo 2009 I was diagnosed with an apparently months old sinus infection. Many days of antibiotics later I’m feeling a lot better and am having the energy to work on projects, writing, etc.

Did I happen to mention that Christie decided we should grow winter squash this year? The result is pounds and pounds of the stuff keeping cool down in the basement. I’ve not yet started on creative ways to cook the spaghetti squash, but I’ve been doing the Delicata and Hubbard styles a couple of different and successful ways.

First of all, a very homey, Japanese inspired stew of Hubbard squash, tomatoes, garlic, onions, Aduki beans, cooked with red miso and black sesame seeds (honestly because they look more dramatic with the squash). Everything but the beans go into the pressure cooker and 8 minutes on high-pressure later you have piping hot stew. Add the pre-cooked beans, some Nappa cabbage, and a good teaspoon or so of toasted sesame oil. Simmer until the cabbage has softened and serve with brown rice, bread, whatever. There’s very nearly a recipe for this one done since Christie’s mom got out her notebook and grilled me on what I’d done when the family was up here earlier this month.

The other winter squash winner has been a complete re-do of a recipe we tried last year. We had liked the casserole of squash, pinto beans and polenta but found it kind of uninspired. Great base ingredients, but lacking in a lot of places. The big thing we thought wasn’t right was the polenta being at the bottom of the casserole where it never really firms up right.

This afternoon I slow roasted 3 of the Delicata from the basement stash and let them cool. I also put on a pot of diced, unsalted tomatoes and pre-cooked pinto beans. We had chili recently, so I threw a little in as well as adding sweet, smoked paprika, chili powder and cumin powder. I let all the juice cook out of the beans until it was just the chunks of tomatoes & beans coated in the reduction of the juice.

In checking around for cooking times, ratios, etc. for the polenta I discovered it is another thing that can be made in the pressure cooker. Fried about a 1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds (’cause that’s all that’s left in the house – yikes) in 2 tablespoons of canola oil. Added 3 large cloves of garlic, diced and two hot, dried chili pods (seeded). Then the polenta, water, sweet, smoked paprika, chili powder and cumin powder. 5 minutes on high-pressure then let sit to come down and release the lock (about 10 minutes). Perfect polenta!

The dish came together with the mashed squash in the bottom of a 9×12 baking dish, coated with spray oil (like soup/stew I can’t seem to make smaller quantities of casseroles). A generous sprinkle of nutritional yeast, add the bean/tomato mix, and top the whole thing with the polenta. Into a 350 oven for 30 minutes. Broil on high until the top is golden with a few toasty bits. Cool a bit and enjoy. Total redo of the recipe that we tried last year, absolutely what we wished it had been!

Real recipes for both dishes coming soon as well as my experiments with the spaghetti squash! We’ve also been experimenting with au gratin/scalloped potatoes and are on track with mucho yumminess in time for Thanksgiving!