Help!!!!! - How to Veganize Family Stew Recipe
Ok I have this recipe for some awesome "no peek oven stew" that my mom made as I was growing up. The ingredients are very simple, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, veggie juice, and ACK beef stew meat, which will be LEFT OUT! I am seeking advice, the stew is made in the oven tightly covered in foil on a VERY low temp(225) for 5 hours, and I would like to add more veggies but most of my faves won't stand up to 5 hours in the oven w/o becoming mush, and the whole point of the stew is put in the oven and forget it, which works great for me as I am on the go most of the day. I am looking for a dense enough veggie that will withstand the cooktime( such as potatoes & carrots) I was thinking about eggplant which I love, but sometimes can be bitter. I love zucchini and okra and would like to add that in, but they both would cook in half the time, was wondering if anyone had used them in a recipe with an extended cooktime or if I will just need to add them in halfway through the cooktime and be done with it. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!!
I actually kind of like overcooked zucchini and summer squash, when there's plenty of other juicy veg flavors they can soak up... they get juicy and falling-apart lush. They can get a little bitter with long cooking, though, too, just like eggplant-- the whole idea makes me fantasize about ratatouille! Other lovely things that come to mind are parsnips, turnips or rutabagas, wedges of butternut or kabocha squash, jerusalem artichokes or frozen artichokes, some meaty fresh beans (favas, limas)... omitting the beef might also leave an opening for another strong flavor, like a couple fresh tomatoes, to slowly disintegrate into the broth (yum)!
Of course the easy peasy answer is a question... Any reason not to sneak in some smoked or browned tofu, some seitan or another sturdy stand-in?
help is here,,
i cook stews quite often and this is what i do. i presoak beans (overnite)then toss them in the pot with tofurky, cabbage, carrots, zucchini, garlic, onions, bay leaves, parsley, pepper, salt, chili powder, and a bit of cayenne pepper. i go teach for 6 hours, commute for 2 hours, pick up my kid, wash off my makeup, put on my bummy clothes, and talk to my kid. after all of this, i stir the stew, fix brown rice, and we 'go to eating.' soooo goood!!! the veggies are not mushy, just tender. you can add a salad, or some vegan muffins for a really helathy and hearty dinner.
veronica
Veronica, your recipe sounds delish, and definitely something I want to try, but I am trying to keep this as close to my moms stew as possible( having a craving for my mama's homecooking :-[) And Duckalucky, I think I am going to go with zucchini and eggplant. I think that the fact that it is such a low temp, and its no peek stew, I won't be stirring or manipulating it, that perhaps the zucchini wont become mushy, and if it does I'll just cut bigger chunks next time :P And I have also heard too that eggplant gets better with longer cooking time. There is no reason why I can't use tofu or seitan, I just didn't want to, I'm not really looking for a meat sub or anything, just sturdy veggies. Oh, and Veronica.... what temp do you cook that stew on you mentioned? I am assuming very low?