Recipe from Quick and Easy Vegan Slow Cooking: More Than 150 Nourishing Recipes That Practically Make Themselves; $17.95; 296 pages; copyright © Carla Kelly, 2011. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment, LLC.
Bursting with produce and tasting of summer, yet warm, comforting, and substantial enough to stand up to any chill in the air, this stew is perfect when served with a loaf of crusty bread for dunking. It’s easy to assemble; you can forget it as it cooks. I like the visual appeal of varied bean sizes and shapes. Use whatever beans you have; you want a variety of them totaling 1 cup. Soak the beans separately or the black beans will turn everything purple! This is extra nice if you drizzle with a little homemade or store-bought pesto for a true Mediterranean touch.
Ingredients
- •½ onion, finely chopped
- •3 garlic cloves, minced
- •1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- •1¼ teaspoons dried oregano
- •1 teaspoon dried basil
- •¼ teaspoon black pepper
- •1 bay leaf
- •¼ cup dry pinto beans, soaked overnight, drained, and rinsed
- •¼ cup dry black beans, soaked overnight, drained, and rinsed
- •¼ cup dry chickpeas, soaked overnight, drained, and rinsed
- •¼ cup dry navy beans, soaked overnight, drained, and rinsed
- •4½ cups vegetable stock or water
- •3 medium zucchini, cut in ½-inch chunks
- •2 stalks celery, cut in ½-inch chunks
- •½ red onion, cut in ½-inch chunks
- •1 red pepper, cut in ½-inch chunks
- •½ teaspoon salt
- •One 15-ounce can whole stewed tomatoes in juice
- •¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
- •½ cup tomato juice
- •1 tablespoon tomato paste
- •½ cup chopped fresh basil
- •½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
- •Salt and pepper
Variation
Mediterranean Stew with Olives
• Add ⅓ cup roughly chopped black olives with the basil and parsley.
Preparation
Combine the ingredients from the onion through the stock in the slow cooker; stir well.
Cover, set heat to LOW, and cook for 7 hours, or until the beans are just tender. Drain, return the beans and vegetables to the slow cooker.
Add the the ingredients from the zucchini through the tomato paste; stir to combine.
Cook for 2 hours, or until the vegetables are tender yet still firm.
Stir in the basil and parsley. Remove the bay leaf.
Taste and season with the salt and pepper as required.
Metric conversions:
¼cup dry beans = 56 grams
4½ fluid cups = .95 liter
½ fluid cup = 946 ml
15 ounces = 425 grams
¼ cup (sun-dried tomatoes) = 4 tablespoons
⅓ cup (chopped olives) = 6 tablespoons