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Waste-Not Want-Not Soup

Don’t throw those vegetable scraps away. You can slow-simmer them for a flavourful vegetable broth, or you can turn them into a hearty soup that’s very easy on the budget.
Ingredients:
2 medium onions, medium chopped
3 parsnips, medium dice
3 carrots, medium dice
1 small turnip or swede, medium dice
Stems from a bunch kale, chopped
Cauliflower leaves, chopped
Outer leaves of a savoy cabbage, finely shredded
Stem of 1 broccoli head, chopped
Inner stalks and leaves of celery, chopped
2 potatoes, medium dice
2 l vegetable broth
2 tsp turmeric
1.5 cups soup mix
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
1) Sauté the onion in a large soup pot until lightly coloured.
2) Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes or until vegetables are cooked to your liking.
3) Serve.

Cannellini Bean and Red Cabbage Stew

A simple, budget recipe, bursting with colour, and oil-free, this stew is bound to please. Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 leek, sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced
250g red cabbage, finely shredded
2 cans tomatoes (400g each)
1 l vegetable stock
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp hot paprika
200g cooked cannellini beans
To garnish, soured tofu

Directions
1. Sweat the leek, garlic, carrots, and celery in a large stock pot over the lowest heat possible for 10 minutes. If they start to stick, add a splash of water.
2. Add the red cabbage, tomatoes, vegetable stock, lemon juice (which serves the function of preventing the cabbage from losing its colour) and paprikas to the pot. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, until the carrots are fork tender.
3. Add the beans, and warm through.
4. Serve garnished with some soured tofu, if desired.

Slow-cooked mushroom stew with cabbage, potatoes, and carrots

A simple, warming stew that can go straight into a slow-cooker, shown here with a gluten free soda bread bun. This recipe easily doubles (if you have a slow-cooker to suit).

Ingredients

3 large portobello mushrooms (about 3 cups), stemmed,
1 1/2″ dice
2 cups packed shredded green cabbage (I use coleslaw mix)
2 cups potatoes, 3/4″ dice (I use quartered grelots)
1 cup carrots, 1″ segments (I use purple)
1 cup scallions, minced, 3″ – 4″ green reserved for garnish
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2t coarse sea salt
2T cooking oil (I use olive oil for this)
1 ‘sprig’ dried kombu (about 1″)
2T tomato passata (or puree)
1T tamari
2T fresh garlic, minced
2T tapioca flour dissolved in 2T water
Coarse sea salt and black pepper to taste

Optional: A tablespoon smoked paprika, some chopped green kale toward the end, black olives, red chili flakes, curry powder and other ingredients will give the stew some additional colour, flavour, and nutrition. You can substitute arrowroot for the tapioca, or even cornstarch if
your slow-cooker provides enough heat. Or you can add 2T wheat flour dissolved in the stock at the beginning for something more traditional. Soda bread, buns, pita, and other breads make a nice accompaniment.

Method

Add all of the ingredients up to but not including the tapioca flour to a slow-cooker. Cook until the potatoes and carrots are fork tender. Expect 4-6 hours on high or longer on low. Note, the size and power of the slow-cooker will produce variation in the time to cook the dish. Adjust the temperature and time expectations based on yours.

When the potatoes and carrots are ready, remove the kombu. Add the tapioca flour mixture and stir to distribute. Return to heat for another 10 – 20 minutes or so, stirring periodically until the tapioca has thickened. Once the tapioca has thickened, season to taste, ladle out, garnish with scallions and serve.