Hearty Vegetable Stew

I’ve decided on Mondays I’m going to post about food. Last Monday I showed you those awesome breakfast cookies. Today, in the spirit of all things icy and cold, I bring you Hearty Vegetable Stew.

Pre-vegetarian Rachel really enjoyed beef stew. It was hands down one of my favorite meals. I actually had this one recipe called Tuscan Beef Stew that I honestly could not get enough of. Unfortunately when you become vegetarian, consuming beef kinda goes out the window. I’ve been searching high and low for a recipe that comes even remotely close to my favorite beef stew, and boy, this one was spot on. I found the original recipe on food.com but actually altered it quite a bit, so I can’t even say this is the same recipe anymore. Here is my version. I hope you like it as much as I do!

Hearty Vegetable Stew

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, sliced and quartered
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 large carrots, 1″ slices
3 stalks celery, 1″ slices
8 oz whole mushrooms, quartered
2 unpeeled potatoes, 1″ chunks
15 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can kidney beans
8 oz tomato sauce
1 C water
1 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf

Add at the end:

3 tbsp flour
1/4 C water
1/4 C red wine

Directions

Heat oil in a large, heavy saucepan (or dutch oven) over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, carrots, celery and mushrooms. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add remaining ingredients except for flour, water and wine. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 30 minutes (or until vegetables are tender), stirring occasionally.

In a small bowl, stir flour into 1/4 C water until smooth. Add to stew, then add wine. Stir and continue to cook 5 more minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf before serving.