Vegan Hoppin' John

I made this dish, from Eating Well Magazine, a couple of years ago, but felt it was worth a remake, for New Year's Day. We ended up going out on NYD, so we had it on January 2nd. Go figure. I
Give it 4 bowls, because it was quite delicious, yet it lacked originality, in that it was quite similar to many of the dishes I make. Nevertheless, it was an excellent venture back Into the kitchen, after a month of not cooking, after having a baby. Here's to more fun times in the kitch!

Barley Hoppin' John
Adapted from Eating Well
 
4 servings, 1 1/2 cups each | Active Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 14-ounce can vegetable broth(use 2 cans if using regular pearl barley)
• 1 cup quick-cooking barley (I used regular, and added cooking time)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 15-ounce cans black-eyed peas, rinsed

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper and celery. Cook until the vegetables soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add broth, barley, thyme, lemon juice, crushed red pepper and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until the barley is done, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in black-eyed peas. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Nutrition

Per serving : 320 Calories; 5 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 3 g Mono; 0 mg Cholesterol; 58 g Carbohydrates; 12 g Protein; 11 g Fiber; 677 mg Sodium; 529 mg Potassium
3 Carbohydrate Serving

The Perfect Beef Stew

Rarely (if ever) do I claim that something I make is "the best." I am hesitant to call this recipe "perfect," since it's not something I eat (red meat), but my family claims that it's amazing, and Kevin has even proclaimed, "I'd give this SIX bowls if I could!" I have to admit - it makes me feel great!

Anyway, I made this dish for my sister in law, when she had a baby recently. I found it on the Food Network website, and it had gotten very good reviews, so I decided it was worth a try. Now, mind you, beef stew is an afternoon affair. It takes about 3 hours to make. Granted, it's not all "hands-on time," but it's fairly labor and time intensive. I was excited to make it, though, and I put a lot of love into it. When Kevin tried it, he was really blown away, and actually a bit sad, since I had to give it away. I made the stew again last weekend - this time, in the slow cooker. It was equally as good, despite the fact that it was way too big for my crockpot, and basically overflowed onto my counter (oops). Also, because it's such a massive amount of stew, it took a whopping 10 hours to cook (a.k.a. I started it at 7 a.m., and we ate at 6 p.m.). All that being said, it was a great slow cooker meal, because I was able to start it when I woke up at 6, and then I didn't need to think about it until an hour before dinner, when I whipped up the barley.

The point is, you should make this. It's a very basic beef stew recipe, with no bizarre ingredients or directions. Oh, and it tastes terrific. My sister in law even told me that she would order it in a restaurant! You know, my little sis swears by the recipes she finds on Food Network, but I haven't had as much luck. I think I might be coming around, though...




A note about the beef: I have always used "Stew Meat," when I've made stews in the past. I just assumed everyone used stew meat, because it's already cut into perfect "stew sized pieces." Well, a few months ago, Kevin commented that stew beef is usually pretty low in quality. Hmph. So, this time, I bit the bullet, and bought beef chuck, and cut it myself. It makes a HUGE difference, and it's really no big deal. I mean, yes, it takes 10 more minutes to cut it, but it's well worth it. I bought a 3 pound package at BJ's Wholesale, and used the whole thing. I'd highly recommend it!


Make this. 5 Bowls!

Beef Stew

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil, for searing
• 2 1/2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 medium onions, cut into 6ths
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, or to cover
• 10 cups cold water, or chicken or beef broth, homemade or low-sodium canned
• 6 sprigs parsley
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 1/4 pounds medium red potatoes, quartered
• 4 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 2 celery stalks, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 7 canned whole, peeled tomatoes, lightly crushed
• 2 to 3 teaspoons red wine vinegar, or to taste
• Cook's Note: Beef chuck, from the shoulder, because of its marbling of intra-muscular fat, is the choice for any type of stew. If you can't find chuck cubed for stew in your meat department, buy a thick chuck steak and cut it into 2-inch cubes.

Directions

Heat a large Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid over medium-high heat. Pour in enough oil to fill the pan about 1/4-inch deep. Season the beef generously with salt and pepper, and add to the pan. Saute half the meat, uncovered, stirring only occasionally, until well-browned, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beef to a plate. Repeat with the remaining beef. Discard the oil and wipe out the pan.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Return the pot to the stove and melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 1 minute more. Add the reserved beef and scatter the flour over the vegetable and beef mixture (enough to lightly coat) and cook stirring until lightly toasted. Add the water or broth, and bring to a simmer. Tie the parsley, thyme, and bay leaves together with a piece of kitchen twine and add the bundle to the pot. Season with 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste. Cover and transfer to the oven. Cook the meat until just tender, about 1 1/2 hours. (This can also be done on the stove at a low simmer.)

Remove pot from the oven. Skim the fat from the cooking liquid with a spoon or ladle. Add the potatoes, carrots, celery, and the tomatoes, and bring to a simmer on top of the stove. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the liquid thickens and the vegetables are tender, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the herb bundle. Stir in the vinegar and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Divide among bowls and serve immediately.

Beef, Beer, and Barley Stew

I decided to try this recipe on a whim, in order to use up some goodies in the fridge. It looked... weird. There were several ingredients in this one, that I'd never used in a stew before, including beer, horseradish, and worcestershire sauce. I honestly did not think this would be a hit. It require quite a bit of simmering time (1.5 hours), so I prepped this, turned it down low, and we took the kiddos out to the playground for a while. When we got home, the stew was perfectly cooked, so we sat down to dinner almost immediately. I always let Kevin be the judge of a beef dish, since I don't eat beef, but this one was, at the least, very beautiful. It was a nice mixture of brothy and chunky, with just the right amount of barley and veggies. The one thing I didn't like about this creation, was that it smelled distinctly of beer. I figured the broth would taste exactly like beer, but Kevin didn't think so. I'll let him review this one, but I'll just say that it was a big hit with both Kevin and Maya. I'll definitely be making this one again.

Split Pea with Beef and Barley Soup

As previously mentioned, I never make beef. I mean, never. However, at Kevin's request, I decided to make a beef soup tonight. I found this recipe on the Sunset Magazine website, and decided it would be perfect for Kevin. I've never used a recipe from this magazine before, but it is linked to the Cooking Light site, so I decided to have faith. I rarely trust online recipes from sites I don't know, because I've been burned before (no pun intended), but I thought I'd give it a try. Okay, anyway, I didn't try this one, but Maya liked it, and I'll let Kevin give his review later. I enjoyed making it. My house smelled like a Jewish grandmother's house. What could be better?
Carrots, onions, parsnips, celery, and leeks. This was my first experience with leeks, and I think they add a nice dimension to a soup.

This was a very long cooking soup, but it was worth it, for my husband and baby's happy bellies.

FYI - if you decide to try this recipe, note the fact that it makes a whopping 32 cups of soup - EIGHT quarts!

Kevin had 3 or 4 bowls of this. We still have like 25 bowls left...

I ate some leftover Lentil Sloppy Joes (Snobby Joes, from Veganomicon) that were in the freezer.


The Critique
This meal was fantastic. It combined all of my favorite things - split pea soup and meat. The meat was extremely tender and well cooked and the split pea soup. The seasoning was not overdone and it did not taste too salty or not salty enough. It had a very healthy but pleasing flavor, and tasted very similar to soups that my Grandmother and Aunt Heddy would make. It's tough to compete with their soups and this one really is on the same caliber if not even better. I give this a wholehearted 5 bowls of soup.

Lentil Carrot Stew, with Crash Hot Potatoes

This lentil carrot stew is by far, the easiest, quickest, and cheapest meal I make. It is also one of the best. Kevin and I both gobble it down every time I make it. I try to cook it once every 2 weeks or so, because it's a nice go-to meal when we are low on time and ingredients. It's also super healthy, so it's the perfect fast food. The funny thing about lentil soup, is that it's starchy, so it's tough to find the perfect accompaniment (i.e. side dish). Maya is on a potato kick, though, so I decided to make these "Crash Hot Potatoes" from the Pioneer Woman Cooks blog. I've been hearing great things about these taters, and my family thought they were like little individual sized mashed potato latkes. Anyway, Maya sucked down these Crash Hots like they were candy, while Kevin and I enjoyed our lentil soup, as always. I love vegan dinners. Here's how I make the lentil carrot stew:

Ingredients
7 cups of water or vegetable broth
1 cup of lentils
1 cup of barley or brown rice
3 cups of carrots, chopped
3 tbl of dried minced onions (you can use a fresh onion instead)
a pinch of crushed red pepper
15 oz can of tomato sauce

Combine all ingredients except tomato sauce in a large soup pot or dutch over. Bring to a boil, then turn to medium low, and simmer, half covered, for 45 minutes. Add the can of tomato sauce, and continue to simmer for 15 minutes, or until lentils, rice, and carrots are at your desired level of mushiness (we tend to like super-mush).

Crash Hot Potatoes, with kosher salt, rosemary, and pepper.
Lentil carrot Stew, Kevin's way - with 4 ice cubes to cool it down.
Lentil Carrot Stew, my way - with steamed broccoli.

The Critique

Lentil soup - This is my favorite thing that Marji makes. I think that she puts crack in it because I can't stop eating it. I think that if I had to choose between losing an appendage and never eating this meal, I would choose to never eat this meal. I would be very relieved to still have my full body, but it would be bittersweet because there would be a hole in my stomach yearning for this fix. It tastes great, has wonderful texture, is good for you, and is easy and cheap to make. Hands down, 5 bowls of soup.

Squashed potatoes: Also, great new take on a wonderful staple that Marji makes. They're sort of like eating a potato latke but much better, healthier, with less oil, and with totally different taste. They just make you feel good - like it's Hanukkah in July. 4 bowls.