Whether you are looking to adopt a nutrient-dense, plant-based diet or are just trying to find healthier alternatives to some of your favorite dishes, we have great recipes on our site to suit your tastes! Some of our recipes can look a little intimidating, though. That’s why we created a weekly segment called RecipEASY — to make healthy eating easier. We (Kate and Kayla) make a recipe from our site and break it down to give you helpful tips and modifications. Since neither of us are professional chefs, we are always looking for ways to simplify healthy recipes!
This week we made…
Super Veggie Bean Stew
Wrapping up the last week of National Soup Month, we made our super veggie bean stew! This flavorful soup was loaded with spices and nutrients!
Our shopping list included leeks, carrots, garlic, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, vegetable stock, carrot juice, garbanzo beans, currants, no-salt seasoning, cinnamon, chili powder, ginger, cumin, ground coriander, nutmeg, and ground black pepper. For full measurements click here (we doubled it).
Chopped carrots, garlic, and fennel were the first to go into the pot with the vegetable stock (I added a cup instead of a half a cup… mostly because I wasn’t paying close enough attention).
Wait, did I say fennel? Turns out Kate and I didn’t actually know what leeks looked like and we accidently bought fennel instead (that explained the licorice taste…). Thankfully one of our coworkers pointed out our mistake not too long into the sauteeing. We took the pot off the heat, fished out the fennel, and replaced it with hastily chopped onion. Crisis averted.
We sauteed the carrots, garlic, and onion until the veggies were tender. Next, we added everything except the mushrooms, broccoli, and cauliflower (carrot juice, garbanzo beans, currants, no-salt seasoning, cinnamon, chili powder, fresh ginger, cumin, ground coriander, nutmeg, and ground black pepper). We stirred the mixture, brought it to a boil, and then reduced it to simmer for about 20 minutes to let the flavors blend.
When we were closer to the time to serve the stew, we added the mushrooms, broccoli, and cauliflower for about 5-7 minutes. We wanted to let the veggies get tender, but didn’t want them to be mushy.
Because mushrooms aren’t Kate’s or my favorite vegetable, we chopped the mushrooms very finely (with our handy dandy chopper!). Finely chopping healthy foods that you may not be a big fan of is a great strategy to get the nutrients while allowing your taste buds to slowly adjust to new, maybe unfriendly (at first) flavors.
There was a lot of action in this stew! It was a great balance of sweet and spicy, brimming with flavors. Try this recipe for yourself and let us know what you think! Share in the comments below.
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