Spring vegetable, grain, and bean stew

To simplify a meal, combine all the sources of carbohydrates, proteins, vegetables, and fats into one dish. That is the idea of a stew. And the beauty of it is that the flavor profile of each ingredient melds into each other to form a mystery box of taste.

Spring vegetable, farro, and cranberry bean stew

A combination of extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, leeks, fresh rosemary, and red chili flakes met the white wine and sat along with each other until the white wine reduced. Celery then joined along with cooked cranberry beans, white vegetable stock, and cooked farro. In a separate pot, fresh spring artichoke hearts were braising with extra-virgin olive oil, white wine, garlic, and a touch of champagne vinegar until almost done and finished their process in the large medley pot. And right before serving, freshly steamed asparagus was folded in along with some fresh chopped Italian parsley. To garnish, a chervil leaf and simply roasted spring carrots tossed in lemon-infused extra-virgin olive oil.

In honor of St. Patty's day

In honor of St. Patty's day, a few things came to mind: beer, cabbage, and potatoes. How better to reflect this than a stew made of extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, fresh marjarom, rosemary, and thyme, onions, Harps beer, carrots, celery, rutabagas, savoy cabbage, veggie stock, green peas, and large butter beans. I did manage to add a bit too much salt so balanced it out with a bit more water, organic sugar, and lemon juice. Irish potato farls accompanies this stew and Earth Balance soy butter was used in lieu of good old fashioned butter. Not very Irish at all, I know.

Herbed Irish stew with Iacopi butter beans

Irish potato farls

Herbs, herbs, and more herbs

Fresh herbs added to any dish, salad, and even beverages make such a huge impact on the taste and depth. Some herbs are more grounding such as rosemary, thyme, and sage, while others, such as mint and cilantro, give a certain lift to foods. Three different herbs were featured today: rosemary, sage, and dill. Play around with different herbs and different applications.

Herb stew with seitan and root vegetables

Dill beer bread

Seitan is a high-protein fake meat product (yeah... I'm not really sure what that means either), that is commonly used in vegetarian cooking to simulate the taste and texture of meat. You can make it yourself, but if time is a precious commodity, pre-made seitan can be purchased. The stew was a slow and steady simmer of garlic, yellow onions, red wine, rosemary, sage, tomato paste, carrots, celery, seitan, roasted rutabagas, steamed Japanese purple yams, tomatoes, Bloomsdale spinach, Braggs amino acids, and vegetable stock. It turned out to be a very herby and hearty dish. It's accompaniment was a dill beer bread baked with fresh dill and Harps beer.

Moroccan stew and Manaquis bilzatar

What and what? Today's lunch was a trip to the regions of Morocco and Lebanon. A stew accompanied with a Lebanese-style z'atar seasoned flat bread. It was my first attempt at making the bread and as with any challenge, it was fun, and on the bonus side, it turned out amazing.

Moroccan spiced pumpkin, barley, chickpea, and mushroom stew

Manaquis bilzatar

The stew was started with a simmer of extra virgin olive oil, yellow onions, garlic, ginger, spices (Spanish paprika, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, allspice, and red chili flakes). Next came the mushrooms. Be sure to cook these well so that the flavors of the mushroom can seep out. The delicata squah was stirred in along with some vegetable stock. Pre-cooked barley and chickpeas then joined the party along with some additional vegetable stock. Add only so much stock so that it honors the stew aspect of the dish. And note that the longer the stew sits, the more the barley will soak up the liquid. At the end, add some fresh lemon juice and voila! You got yourself a very savory and balanced stew. The garnish of grated granny smith apples, parsley, and lemon juice provided a light contrast to the depth of the stew. And that beautiful, deep purple garnish: bulls blood from beets! I found the recipe for the flat bread here. One of my co-workers suggested rather than cooking the bread on a pan, the pizza oven would be a good option, and boy was he right!