Sweet Harvest Stew

I love stew. But I have this issue with it. I want my stew to pack some flavor in each bite. I mean, surely you’ve experienced it before, too: bland stew, not good. So I started working on a stew and what kind of flavors I’d want. Lots of flavor was the answer.

Inspired by autumn’s leaves and harvest [and this recipe by The Curvy Carrot] I set to work to pacify those papillae.

Sweet Harvest Stew
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch collard greens [10-12 leaves]
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
black pepper

1 1/2 – 2 cups sliced button mushrooms
1 shallot, diced [or 2 garlic cloves]
1/2 cup white wine

2 1/2 cups broth
1 can diced tomatoes
4 carrots, sliced
1 large sweet potato, diced
1 red onion, roughly chopped
2 cups cooked garbanzo beans [1 can, rinsed and drained]
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley

optional:
3 tablespoons flour [cornstarch or arrowroot]
1/4 cup water

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a hot dutch oven and saute collard greens until soft. Set ’em aside.
Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the same dutch oven and saute the carrots, celery, and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until the onions began to turn translucent. Reduce the heat to medium and add the mushrooms and shallots [or garlic] and saute until the mushrooms start to soften. De-glaze the dutch oven with 1/2 cup white wine. Continue cooking [and stirring] until the wine is reduced by half.

Add the broth, diced tomatoes [I use Muir Glen fire roasted], carrots, sweet potatoes, red onion, garbanzo beans, and seasonings. Make sure you’ve added enough broth to cover everything. Bring the stew to a boil, cover it, and reduce the heat to medium-low. Let it simmer [or stew, ha] for 30 minutes or so until your carrots are softened. If you like your stew a little thicker, mix the flour and water together and add it in now. Stir it for a couple minutes while it thickens.

Remove from heat. Add the collard greens back in. Taste the broth and add more salt or pepper as needed.

I served these with some [vegan] pumpkin cornbread muffins. I made them with a Bob’s Red Mill mix of gluten-free cornbread, 1/2 cup of pumpkin, and 1/3 cup of coconut oil. They were delicious!

Feel free to get creative with your mix-ins: zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, lima beans, green peas, green beans. Go crazy here, folks.