If you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, you know I love soups and stews. And I have to say, THIS stew is my new, all time favorite.
It has all the qualities of a great stew, it’s thick, rich, and hearty, and oh so good. It’s also low-fat and perfectly Vegan (of course). In fact, as my kids would say, this Hearty Vegetable Stew is the BOMB!
Don’t believe me? You gotta try it! Pair it up with a nice, warm hunk of homemade bread, and you’ll be thanking me later I promise you.
The ingredients are pretty simple: onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, peas, and 2 different kinds of mushrooms. But the broth! Mmmm. The broth is what really makes this stew so amazing. That or the Portobello Mushrooms. In fact, the Portobellos are probably going to be the most expensive ingredient on your shopping list. I think I paid more for the mushrooms ($4.99 or so) than I did for the cheap bottle of white wine! But don’t skip them – they add that meaty taste and texture that makes this stew so good.
So get your ingredients together and give this a try. You won’t be sorry!
Ingredients
- 1 medium white onion, minced fine
- 1 stalk of celery, minced fine
- 1 medium carrot, mined fine
- 1/4 cup of low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 8 oz package of Portobello Mushrooms, sliced
- 4 oz of sliced White Crimini Mushrooms (about 1/2 a package)
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup of white wine (any cheapo will do)
- 2 1/2 cups of low-sodium veggie broth
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 15oz can diced tomatoes (no salt added)
- 3 medium carrots, sliced
- 2 stalks of celery, sliced
- 2 yukon gold potatoes, rough chopped
- 8oz can of tomato sauce
- 1/2 tsp kitchen bouquet
- 1 tbls balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbls cornstarch
- 1 cup of frozen peas
Instructions
- Chop the carrot, celery stalk, and white onions finely.
- I cheated and used a food processor.
- Saute this mixture in the 1/4 cup of veggie broth until the veggies are nice and soft.
- Add the chopped red onion and continue cooking until it softens.
- It’s ok if the liquid gets a little low – the brown bits add to the flavor.
- Just don’t burn it!
- My white mushrooms were already sliced, so I just rinsed these.
- The Portobellos I chopped into 1/2″ to 1″ pieces and also rinsed.
- Add your mushrooms and cook on medium high until they lose their liquid.
- Season with the rosemary, garlic, and italian seasoning.
- At this point it doesn’t look very pretty – mine was a brownish looking goop!
- That’s ok. It will taste amazing!
- Add the wine and deglaze any brown spots in your pan. This is the good stuff.
- After a few minutes add the rest of the broth, the tomatoes and tomato sauce.
- Add all your chopped veggies and turn the heat up to boil.
- Add the rest of the seasonings – but not the cornstarch.
- Once it’s boiling, turn down the heat to low and add the peas.
- Mix the cornstarch with a tablespoon of cold water and stir this in to thicken.
- I let it sit on low heat for another 15 minutes or so stirring occasionally (or until it smelled so good I had to take a taste
A thick, rich, vegetable stew, perfect for chillier fall weather with lots of ‘stick to your ribs’ ness guaranteed. The starchy vegetables and mushrooms combined with the broth will have you going back for more without any worry of high sodium counts, fat, or cholesterol.
Move over Campbell’s Chunky – you just met your competition!
