Vegetable Stew.

I don't like this picture because the broth looks super oily and it's really not.  I think the shine is in part from using a cornstarch-like thickening agent.

A few weeks ago I tricked myself into thinking I needed a dutch oven, and I am very glad I did.  (I made delicious vegetarian chili, a recipe I will someday share.)  This stew dish, which was inspired by something my parents used to feed me, would not have been as delicious if it wasn't made in my cast iron dutch oven.  I mean, it would probably still be delicious.

Beef Stew recipes all call for red wine, but I only drink red wine on family occasions when everyone else is drinking it, so I had none, as well as no inclination to get some.  Instead, I used balsamic vinegar and vegetable broth, and I can't imagine this being more delicious.

Like I said, my parents used to make beef stew, using a pressure cooker (a piece of equipment I have, so far, lived without.)  They would brown beef, add stewing vegetables (usually carrots potatoes and ALWAYS rutabaga - it is not the same without rutabaga) and then pressure cook until done.  I like to imagine that at the end of the meal I had eaten everything but the beef, but that probably isn't true.  (Although I swear on Thanksgiving all that would be left on my plate was turkey.)  When I bought a 3 lb sack of 'stew vegetables' from the local organic produce delivery service, I remembered back to those days of moist and incredibly flavorful vegetables, and this dish does not disappoint.

As far as I can remember, we didn't really have gravy with this meal - the vegetables were not dry, but I remember seasoning with Lawry's seasoned salt.  Today I used copious amounts of Penzey's special seasoned sea salt.  In any case, my version has a lot of juice, and is thickened to form a bit of gravy that can be sopped up with some bread.

In future renderings, I would cook the seitan first in the dutch oven, then remove it and use less oil to brown the onions.

9 oz onion
5 oz parsnip
1 1/4 lb carrots
1/2 lb rutabaga
3/r lb radishes (some red, some white)
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 t fresh thyme
1 t hot pepper flakes
1 T Annie's worcestershire sauce (its my favorite veg brand)
2 c vegetable broth
1 c chopped tomatoes
6 oz seitan
2 T olive oil

cornstarch, flour, arrowroot, or other thickener, as needed for your desired broth consistency.

I heated 1 T of olive oil and softened the onions, than added the very roughly chopped vegetables in the above order, as I roughly chopped them.  While this cooked, I dug through my freezer to procure vegetable broth and tomatoes.  I deglazed the pan a bit with the vinegar and worcestershire, and then added the broth and tomatoes.  As soon as the ice crystals were melted, I stirred, covered, and baked in a 400 degree oven for about a half hour, until the very large-cut carrots and rutabagas were soft but not falling apart.

While baking, I sliced the seitan bite-sized and fried in olive oil, sprinkled with a bit of seasoned salt (this seitan had no salt added), and set it aside.

I ended up taking a cup of delicious tangy broth from the stew, and heating it in a saucepan.  I mixed 2 T of Wondra (superfine white flour) with 1/4 c cold water, and then stirred it into the boiling broth, cooking and stirring for about a minute, than pouring back into the dutch oven, with the cooked seitan.

Yum.