Italian Veggie Stew with Portobello Mushrooms

Posted on by Sam Boyd

This is a basic italian stew that is super hearty while being great for cleanse week!  Cleanse away!!

Ingredients

  1.     1 can of organic tomatoes, drained and rinsed
  2.     6 medium stalks of celery, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
  3.     2 medium onions, one diced fine, the other chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
  4.     2 Portobello caps, cut into 1/2 inch strips, set aside
  5.     2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and another 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
  6.     1.5 cups organic vegetable broth
  7.     1 teaspoon each of the following:  thyme, oregano, basil (i used 2 teaspoons), minced garlic, celery flake
  8.     1 bay leaf
  9.     1 pinch of dried chives or dried scallions (for garnish, gotta look pretty!)

Recipe

  1. Preheat an oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Combine vegetable broth, onions, celery and spices into a medium pan and put on medium heat for about 5 minutes
  3.  While that is coming to temp, place your mushrooms on a pan and drizzle with 2 tablespoons balsamic and put in a hot, hot, hot oven to roast.
  4.  The soup base should be warmed at this point, but not boiling yet.  Add the tomatoes and crank the heat to high to bring to boil!
  5.  Add the spices and bay leaf and cover for about 10 minutes.
  6.  Pull out the mushrooms (which should be roasted) and se aside to cool a little.
  7.  Check on your stew, it should be boiling.  Pull the lid off and add the vinegar.  Stir briskly until you cannot smell the vinegary smell anymore.  (A lot of times I treat Balsamic like wine, you cook it to get the alcohol/vinegar out.  What you are left is a less acidic version of the flavor you wanted).
  8.  Pull it off the heat and set aside for 5 minutes, lidded.  It should come together.  If you want it thicker, leave the lid off.
  9. Put in a bowl, put the mushrooms on top, real pretty like, and add the chives/scallions

Different than usual, this recipe really only makes 2 servings (because I hate reheating Portobellos) but it’s pretty true to multiply out if you want more servings.  I like this one and its pretty easy.  Please give me feedback and let me know what you think of this one.  We enjoyed it and it was hearty and filling, which is sometimes missing in a detox or cleanse week.

Beefy Cabbage Stew

Posted on by Sam Boyd

Ingredients

1.  10oz beef tenderloin (yes, the same meat they use for filet mignon), cut into 1/2″ chunks.

2.  1 quart of vegetable broth

3.  1 whole cabbage, cored and cut into 3 inch sections

4.  3 medium onions, cut into 1/2″ ribbons

5.  3 large carrots, cut into 1/2″ chunks

6.  1 can organic tomatoes, drained and rinsed

7.  5 tablespoons of organic tomato paste

8.  2 tablespoons of dried basil

9.  8oz boiling water

10.  1 tablespoon of avocado oil

11. Salt & Pepper to taste

Recipe

1.  Combine onions, carrots, avocado oil with S&P into a large dutch oven, big soup pan, or whatever other large pan you want to use for this,  make sure it can stand med-high heat for about 1/5 hours, on med-high heat.

2.  Sweat these items til they have given up some liquid.

3.  Scoot all the veggies to a side of the pan and then add the meat.  Let it get some good browning on it, then stir everything back together.

4.  Cook together for a few minutes on med-high, then add the tomatoes, boiling water, broth, and tomato paste.  Stir to combine and bring to a boil.

5.  When boiling, add all the cabbage and dried basil.  Stir well.  Reduce temp to medium and cover.

6.  You will cook this forever.  I cooked it on medium for about 3 hours, which I had because I was home and doing other things and could keep an eye on it.  Your time will be rewarded.

This will make about 7 hearty servings.  One for me to eat now, two for dinner, and 4 for lunches.  In addition, this dish freeze well and can be frozen for up to 6 months in a deep freezer.  This is an old favorite that we make a few times per year.  Please let me know what you think.