Winter Vegetable Stew

January 19, 2015

By Anna Varriano

This slow-cooked winter veggie stew is loaded with health-boosting and tummy-warming goodness. It looks gorgeous and tastes amazing. It’s one of my favourite winter meals!

What You’ll Need:

A very large covered ‘roasting’ pot or pan that you can use on the stove and also put in the oven. I used a Creuset (enamel covered cast iron)
4 TBSP of Coconut oil or butter (or a combo of both)
a really big white or yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic
2 or 3 bay leaves
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
3 sprigs of parsley (plus extra as a serving garnish)
2 TBSP organic tamari sauce
3 cups of water
4 cups of canned tomatoes
1 cup of fresh shiitake mushrooms
1/2 a cup of red wine
unrefined sea salt and pepper to taste
Approximately 12 cups of coarsely chopped up veggies. This recipe will work with a variety of fall/winter/root veggies. You can choose your favourites…and remember, the more colourful you make it, the more nutritious it will be! I used:
- 4 parsnips
- 1 large turnip
- 6 carrots (I used heritage ones for some extra colour)
- 1 sweet potato
- 6 stalks of celery
- 2 cups of Brussels sprouts

Step 1: The Stewing ‘Liquid’

On the stove top, heat the coconut oil and/or butter in the pot at medium heat.
Chop up the sprigs of herbs and add them to the pot along with the chopped onion.
Cook until the onion starts to brown, about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Add the wine, and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes
Add the mushrooms, tamari, and water and bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes (it should reduce to about 2 cups). While this stewing ‘liquid’ is simmering, you can prepare the veggies.

Step 2: Prep the Veggies

Heat the oven to 350F
Coarsely chop up all the veggies
Once the stewing liquid in Step 1 has simmered for 20 to 25 minutes, add the veggies to into it. Add the canned tomatoes. Sprinkle with a bit of the salt and pepper, and toss well to coat.

Step 3: Cooking

Cover the pot and put it in the 350F oven. Cook until veggies are tender, about 1.5 hours.

Step 3: Serving

You can serve by simply ladeling in to a bowl. I fancied it up a bit by serving it in baked acorn squash halves and then garnished with a bit of chopped parsley. For directions on baking squash, you can check out this recipe…eliminating the cinnamon and maple syrup for this use though!

Enjoy!