The Stew Pot

I was hungry for pot roast, not the kind my mom used to make - well kind of but without the roast part. As a kid I loved the carrots, onion and potatoes that come with a pot roast especially after they have soaked up the juices from the meat and have a nice brown color. 

I knew there had to be an another way to get all the goodness from the veggies without cooking a big roast. And since book club was on the horizon and we were gathering at my house I decided to give it a try - I mean what’s a little experimentation among friends right? 

I scoured Pinterest for a while and then decided to go it on my own - I turned out pretty well and I got 2 requests for the recipe so I take that as an endorsement of the end result. 

Ingredients:

2 medium onions - chopped

3 - 4 stalks of celery - cut into 3/4 inch pieces

4 - 5 medium carrots - cut into 3/4 inch pieces

2 lbs of yukon gold potatoes - cut into 1 inch cubes

16 ounces baby portabella mushrooms - quartered

1 1/2 cups green peas (I used frozen - thaw before using)

6 cloves garlic

6 cups water

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 Tbsp Italian herb mixture

1 Tbsp paprika

2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

handful of chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large soup pot on high with 1 tablespoon of water. When the water begins to sputter, add the onion, celery, and carrot, and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently as the edges of the onion browns slightly, and adding a little water as needed to prevent sticking.

Stir in the mushrooms and garlic, and continue to cook while stirring for an additional 5 minutes, adding water as needed.

Add the 6 cups of water, potatoes, tomato paste, dried Italian herbs, and paprika. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to a low boil. Stir in the rosemary and cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the peas, and cook for 5 minutes more, or until the carrots and potatoes are tender.

Place 2 cups of the stew (broth and vegetables) into a blender, and blend under very smooth. Stir this back into the pot to thicken the stew, and stir in the parsley. Serve with a few twists of ground black pepper.

We enjoyed the leftovers for dinner the next evening and I made a loaf of Guinness and honey bread the recipe is here. We cooked up an additional onion, more mushrooms and tossed in some Gardein “beef” strips - it was fabulous. 

My next attempt will be for movie night but I’m planning to decrease the yukon gold potatoes to 1 pound and add turnips and since it will be St Paddy’s Day I’ll most likely include the Guinness bread - can’t wait. 

Spring into February

I know that everyone seems to have an opinion on global warming and climate change but man the weather here in Minnesota recently is unseasonably nice - very nice; it was 31 degrees today and the sun was shining. That doesn’t mean we won’t get anymore snow and cold it is after all February and March is unpredictable as hell. At the moment, I’ll take the nice weather and I’ll enjoy it. 

Generally when we get to February I’m searching for hot and warming soups and stews, roasting a big batch of root vegetables or cooking a nice spicy curry - anything to kick up the heat. But lately I’ve been thinking about salads and lighter fare. I can only attribute it to the weather. 

I was driving home from yoga last week and as I drove past Chipotle - I thought - oh taco salad sounds delicious. In most restaurants taco salad involves some kind of spiced beef, which of course we don’t eat. We do however give the Beyond Meat product a go every once in a while. They have a ground “meat” product that has a nice consistency and when spiced up with taco seasoning, combined with onions and peppers and then added to greens, tomatoes, olives, vegan cheese, corn and crushed blue corn tortillas well it’s pretty awesome. It’s even more awesome when you make a dressing that has avocado in it - I could literally lick the dressing off the spoon - if it has avocado it’s all good. 

This week was suppose to be movie night but it got cancelled because our friend Rhea Rhodan was not feeling well (so sorry to hear that). We had an awesome dinner planned - a Field Roast Foragers vegan roast, beet, carrot, onion and chickpea salad with a lemon & dijon dressing and quinoa with kale. We thought about doing something different but the groceries were in the fridge and we decided let’s go for it. We’ll do it again at another movie night don’t worry!

Unfortunately we didn’t take a picture of the beet salad - OMG if you love beets you need to try this dish. The flavors pair perfectly and the dressing adds a wonderful dimension - next time I might even add a few crumbles of feta to give it a sharp flavor. You can check out the recipe here. 

We’ve made it to Sunday, which makes me happy and of course sad. I love that it is still the weekend but I can’t help but want one more day off before I head back to work. One of my favorite Sunday activities is pottery class. For 2 hours you think about nothing other than forming the clay, no social media mania, no political pandemonium, just me and a mound of clay - its relaxing. 

We had a great pottery class today - I learned how to make wine/sake/tea cups (no handles) let’s just hope they sealed up nicely so that when I pour a beverage in them I don’t find the beverage running down my arm. That’s the danger with hand built pottery, you have to make sure you seal the seams. If it doesn’t work out for cups I can always use them for pencils, dried flowers or something else - who doesn’t need a cute little cup right? I think my project next week will be the triple cone succulent vase I’ve been thinking about ever since I saw the picture on Pinterest. 

Valentines Day is Tuesday be sure to spend the day with people you love. 

Thanks for stopping by!

It Doesn't Have to be Fancy

As we were sitting at dinner tonight it occurred to me that I am yet again behind on my blog posting; so much to do and so little time. In spite of that observation I realized (not for the first time in my life) that I’ve been waiting until we have super awesome meals and then use those as a springboard for my blog post - “sigh”. 

I spend a fair amount of time reading other food blogs, their photos are awesome (all 20 of them that show every tiny step), they write long and involved prose to go with all those pictures (but of course) and then their loyal following post questions and congratulations - it’s amazing right?

That is not my style; first I have a full time writing/marketing job, I workout every day (walking, 2 days of strength training and 1 day of yoga) and I like to spend time reading and interacting on social media so I’m kind of booked. Some days dinner needs to come from what’s in the fridge and quickly; no fancy photos and no long drawn out descriptions because I have other things to do. That doesn’t mean that when I retire or dedicate myself to full time blogging that I won’t be just like everyone else but for today it is what it is.

Generally, when I get up in the morning I like to “plan my day” and by that I mean I make a list - starting with work things I need to accomplish, workouts, dinner plans and any other cleaning, organizing, shopping and errands - yes I am a planning freak - it comes from all those years as a Project Manager. 

Last night Camille (the cute cat in residence) woke me up 3 times to be fed and I’m sure if I had not shut her out of the bedroom there would have been at least one more wake up call. I try to be kind; she is old (17), fragile (boney) and needs extra attention. She is hardwired for 3 things; food, water and going outside - she’s predictable if nothing else. Yet in the end we’ve decided to provide as much palliative care to her as she requires because we love her and she’s been a great companion. 

After my personal training session tonight, I opened the fridge and decided to do my stand-by; roasted veggies. In the fridge we had brussels sprouts, carrots, onions, broccoli and mushrooms so we chopped, tossed with oil, added spices (garlic, rosemary, oregano, and thyme - all from last years garden) and salt and pepper then roasted them in the oven at 425 for about 25 -30 minutes.

While they were roasting I cooked some soba noodles, poured a glass of wine and relaxed until dinner was ready. Sometimes simple is best. 

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and I’m planning to post recipes and stories of how everyone celebrates - so send me your favorite romantic dinner, restaurant, tradition and gifts.

Thanks for stopping by!