Tag Archives: stew

Kale and White Bean Stew

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Julie • 0 Comments

I can’t believe I’m posting a recipe for kale stew on a 78 degree day in early March. Isn’t March supposed to be “in like a lion?” Well, maybe it is. If the lion came from Africa and brought the weather with it. What is this, people? Back in my day we were still having blizzards in March, and weathering them with old-timey patience and probably a lot of gumption. We also walked to school in them, uphill both ways. We earned our winter stews back then, I tell you.

I might be earning myself a reputation for being cranky about unseasonably warm weather, but trust me, there are worse reputations to have, and I’m standing by my insistence that winter goes until the spring equinox, regardless of whether it’s 8 degrees or 80 degrees. Give me stew or give me death!

Kale and white bean recipes are a dime a dozen – I’m not sure what makes them go so well together, but there’s something about the creaminess of the beans with the hearty, slightly bitter kale that just makes you want to hunker down and eat your way through the depths of winter. This particular recipe started out as a way to do just that – one snowy evening last winter, I went on a pantry raid to try to cobble together a nice dinner without having to put my boots on and trudge out in the cold. This quickly became a favorite and a weeknight staple both for its hearty taste and hardy makeup – this fast dinner transforms beautifully into even better leftovers. I strongly suggest eating it out of an oversized mug under a blanket, even if you have to turn the air conditioner on.

Kale and White Bean Stew
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Category: Main Dish, Soups & Stews
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Total time: 35 mins
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 3 stalks celery, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 8 oz cremini mushrooms, quartered
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes with liquid
  • 2 15 oz cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • Several large handfuls of chopped kale
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, and bell pepper and saute for about two minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until onions are translucent and the celery and bell pepper are softened, about ten minutes.
  2. Add the garlic, parsley, thyme, oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes and cook for about two minutes, stirring frequently. Add balsamic vinegar, tomatoes and beans and bring to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the kale and cook over medium-low heat until wilted and tender, about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper.
  3. Serve over rice or pasta, or with crusty bread on the side.
Filed Under: Main Dish, Soups, Vegan

Vegetarian Five Bean Chili

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Julie • 2 Comments

Look, I like spring. Who doesn’t? New life in the air, the bitter chill of winter replaced by the still-crisp promise of coming warmth, the hardiest of crocuses fighting their way up through the solid remnants of the last frost…that’s all well and good, but here’s my problem:

IT’S NOT SPRING.

Today is the first of February, and I’ve just been informed by my usually dour but suddenly cheery local meteorologist that it’ll be 67 degrees today. Tell me that on the first of April? I’ll be ecstatic. But right now, I feel cheated of my winter. Where are my evenings huddled under blankets with mugs of spiced (and spiked, obviously) cider? Where are my hushed mornings laced with the whisper of falling snow? Most importantly, where is my chance to ceaselessly mock the panicked hordes buying the grocery stores out of toilet paper and bread? No, I’m not ready for spring yet, and I will kick, scream, stubbornly wear my winter coat, and make hearty comfort food until 11:59 on March 19th. So there, spring.

I’m sharing my favorite chili recipe on this particular day, a 67-degree February day, as an act of peaceful protest against this winter’s apparent desire to go out like a lamb without ever really roaring in. I will call it Occupy: Winter. When we get two feet of snow in three weeks, you’ll likely point me back to this post and laugh, but I’ll just be patting myself on the back for a successful campaign.

All bitterness about floundering winters aside, I can eat this chili in any weather (although you might want to ask me again halfway through a DC July). It has a ton of flavor, and is extraordinarily hearty for a vegetarian chili thanks to its two special ingredients – peanut butter and cocoa powder. No, before you ask, I did not have a glass of wine and accidentally shuffle my chili recipe with my peanut butter cup recipe – I know it sounds strange, but these two additions make this chili everything wonderful that it is. Although you can’t taste it, the peanut butter adds a rich flavor that tempers the heat, and the cocoa a subtle depth and beautiful color. Together with five different beans, you can taste winter in every bite, even when it’s 67 degrees. Something you can also taste? An incredibly easy one-pot meal that’s perfect for Super Bowl Sunday.

Vegetarian Five Bean Chili
Yield: approximately one metric ton. Seriously – this very nearly overflows my 6-quart stockpot. Feel free to halve it if you’re not a sucker for leftovers and pawning food off on everyone you know like I am, or if you’re not making this for a large group of hungry football fans.

Ingredients:
1 cup dried kidney beans
1 cup dried cannellini beans
1 cup dried black beans
1 cup dried pinto beans
1 cup dried navy beans
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 ribs celery, diced
8 oz cremini or white mushrooms, quartered
3 carrots, diced
2 red or green bell peppers, diced
3 serrano chili peppers, minced (remove ribs and seeds for less heat)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chili powder
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp dried oregano
3 cups vegetable stock or water
2 28-oz cans diced tomatoes, with juice
1/4 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Any toppings your heart desires (such as grated cheddar cheese, scallions, raw onion, cilantro, sour cream)

Instructions:
Place the beans together in a large pot and cover with three inches of water. Bring to a hard boil for one minute over high heat. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand at least one hour. Drain and set aside.*

Heat olive oil in the same large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms and bell peppers and saute, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the serrano chilies and garlic and cook for two minutes. Add chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, and oregano and cook for one minute, stirring constantly.

Add beans and vegetable stock or water. Simmer, partially covered, for 20-30 minutes, until beans are softened. Add tomatoes and return to a simmer. Whisk in peanut butter, cocoa powder, salt and pepper and let simmer over low heat for at least 30 minutes (I generally make this on a weekend and let it simmer for hours, which allows the flavors to deepen as the chili reduces and thickens).

Serve with toppings and enjoy huddled under piles of blankets. If your spouse/significant other/roommate insists that s/he’s too hot and doesn’t want to be under a blanket because it’s almost 70 degrees, shush them and feed them more chili.

*NOTE: You can of course replace dried beans with canned if you’re having an impulsive chili craving (it happens – trust me, I know). 1 cup of dried beans = about 3 cups once cooked. Your standard can will be a little more than two cups – when I’ve made this with canned beans, I simply omit the 3 cups of stock/water and add the (rinsed and drained) beans and tomatoes at the same time.

Filed Under: Main Dish, Vegan