Stew was one of my comfort foods growing up, especially on a cold, wet day. Traditionally, my family made a beef stew that included barley, potato and turnip (as well as a few other things). When I lost my taste for beef, I had to improvise a little. Around the same time, I discovered a love for lentils and sweet potato. They have now been added to my version of rainy day stew.
Ingredients:
- 3 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
- 1 large or 2 small onions
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 4 stalks celery
- 3 carrots
- 2 tbsp vegetable stock powder
- 4-6 cups hot water
- 1 large or two small sweet potatoes
- 2 white potatoes
- ½ cup brown lentils
- ⅓ cup barley
- parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme (the song!)
- bay leaf
Directions:
I strongly recommend chopping things and adding them to the pot as you go. Start with the oil in the pot at medium-high heat. Add in order: onion, garlic, celery, carrot. Dissolve the stock powder in the water and add to the veggies, then bring to a boil while you chop the two types of potatoes. Throw in the rest of the ingredients and stir. When it’s bubbling again, turn down to low heat and simmer with a lid on for 30-40 min. At this point you can add dumplings, if you like.
Note: Other root vegetables can be added or substituted depending what you like or have in your fridge. If you’re not adding dumplings, small pasta (like orzo) or other beans could be added instead. I don’t suggest adding salt before serving, as most stock powders have a lot of salt in them already.
Meat: If you want to add meat, my family’s usual way of preparing it is to cover small chunks of stewing beef in a coating of flour and seasoning, then fry it in the pot before adding the rest of the ingredients. Chicken would probably also go well with the seasonings I use, but I haven’t tried it yet.
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