It Must Be Snowing Somewhere (Fat Free) Stew

This recipe came together over the last couple of days. I knew that I wanted to do something 'stewish', and I knew I wanted to use up the root veg sitting in my fridge - namely the interesting and never before used Navet (French) Turnips. I also wanted to do something with the remaining Seitan I had made last weekend; K added an interesting dimension by suggesting that I use the Pearl Barley in our pantry, rather than the Polenta I had originally conceived of as this recipe's grain.



I can honestly say that this stew was completely worth the simmer time. The flavours were amazing, the whole concoction was fat free, and the seitan I added towards the end gave it an amazing depth of texture.

Ingredients:
-5 navet turnips
-1 yellow onion
-4 large carrots
-1 small butternut squash
-1 1/2 cup of pearl barley
-1/2 pound of seitan
-fresh thyme, sage, rosemary, pepper
-6 cups (or more) of water or veg broth
-2 tablespoons of corn starch

How To:
I cut the veg into bite size pieces, and set the water to boil on the stove top. When I had a gentle boil I added the veg and turned the heat down to medium. I left the veg to simmer for 40 minutes. Towards the end of the simmer, I added a little bit of soy sauce to a pan and seared the seitan a tiny bit, I then threw the wheat-meat and the pearl barley into the bubbling stew. With ten minutes left, I added the 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, and I let it bubble a bit while I cleaned the kitchen floor and played with the new online photo editor I stumbled upon (Picnik).

We served the stew with a nice bottle of eco-wine.

Chef Statement: (I am only saying this because I want all my vegan friends to give this recipe a try): This was the most amazing stew I have ever had in my life. It was delicious.