Seitan and Barley Stew

This is an old standby recipe a friend shared with me for Beef and Barley Stew. This is a simple recipe that everyone always loved, so I thought I'd try it with seitan. This is snowy day sort of stew. Something warm always helps me feel a little less gloomy on a dreary, cold day.


Vegan "Beef" Seitan and Barley Stew

3/4 C. Frozen Cut Green Beans

1 1/2 C. Frozen Sweet White Corn

2/3 Log of Seitan O' Greatness, cut in small cubes

1/2 cup Bell Pepper, chopped

1 C. Yellow onion, chopped

4 Cloves Garlic minced

2/3 C. Uncooked Pearled Barley

1 t. Thyme

1/4 t. Pepper

5 C. Water and 5 t. Better than Bouillon Reduced Veggie Bouillon, or 5 C. Veggie Broth

1 T. Tomato Paste

1- 2 cans (14.5 oz) Petite Diced Tomatoes Undrained (Depending on how much you like tomatoes.)

1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

1 T. Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat small dutch oven over medium high heat. Add olive oil. Add onions, garlic, and bell pepper. Saute for a few minutes. Rinse green beans and corn with cold water to separate and partially thaw. Mix green beans, corn and remaining ingredients into dutch oven. Heat until simmering. Simmer for 1-2 hours on stove, or put in oven at 250 degrees for 2 -3 hours. Add seitan about 30 minutes from the end of cooking time. Oh, and FYI: This stew is best the second day, or made in the morning, so that the barley has time to plump up. At first the stew will seem too thin, but after a few hours of sitting on the stove it will thicken right up.

Also, I hadn't gotten my hands on a copy of The Engine 2 Diet before last week. I love the library! I have some loved ones for whom I'm always trying to find a few healthy recipes, and this one has a few I'll keep in mind. I love that there's a book that promotes a vegan diet that is apparently going more mainstream that is even guy friendly. Hopefully the info that is in this book will get people thinking more about their overall health and not just their weight. While at Whole Foods the other day, I noticed a bunch of stickers near products that said "Engine 2 Diet" friendly. Anyway, there was a Quick Bran Muffin recipe for bran muffins that includes nothing more than a box of mix, a couple of bananas and water (though I did use soy milk instead.) I used Hodson Mill's mix. It isn't perfect as far as being "whole," but it's an easy option that's better than store bought muffins. I though they were yummy for something that is easy to throw together :)

Pumpkin and Azuki Beans

My son brought home a small pumpkin after a field trip to the pumpkin patch the other day. For the first time I considered that a pumpkin could actually be eaten, and that not all pumpkin made for consumption comes out of a can only to be made into a pie. I had bought azuki beans at the beginning of my vegan journey after reading The Kind Diet knowing there was some recipe in the book that had to do with them. I can't get my hands on a Kobacha squash to save my life, so I thought why not use the pumpkin? I'm sure butternut squash would be lovely as well. After reading reviews of the recipe, I thought adding a few ingredients might be nice. The toasted sesame seed oil adds a nice touch, and I think the cilantro is probably essential for a little brightess. I really enjoyed this. It's a nice warm bowl of goodness for a fall day.

Pumpkin and Azuki Beans
Recipe adapted from The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone

1 cup dried azuki beans
2 cups pumpkin or kabocha squash, cut into large chunks
1 4-6 inch pieces of kombu
1-3 t. Shoyu
1 T. Toasted Sesame Oil
chopped fresh cilantro

1 T. EVOO
1 Chopped Yellow Onion
4 Garlic Cloves Chopped
1 Inch Piece of Ginger, grated on microplane

Combine the kombu and beans in a bowl and cover with water by an inch or two and soak overnight. Drain the kombu and beans and rinse. Cut kombu into inch squares. Add to heavy duty pot. Add azuki beans, and cover with 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes, and skim off foam. Reduce heat to low, and cover the pot. Simmer about 25-30 minutes.

In the meantime, warm olive oil and add onion to the pan with a sprinkle of salt. Reduce heat to medium low and cover. Cook until browned and carmelized, about 15 minutes. Add garlic and ginger, and cook an additional 2-3 minutes until cooked through.

After 25-30 minutes, add pumpkin or squash to the top of the beans. Make sure water is still covering beans. Cook an additional 15-20 minutes, until beans and pumpkin are to your desired texture. Add cooked onions, garlic and ginger. Stir in toasted sesame oil. Stir in Shoyu 1 t. at a time to your desired taste (I think I ended up adding a little over 1 T. in the end), and cook an additional 5 minutes. Stir in chopped cilantro and serve.