This recipe has been on the docket for a week now, just for tonight! I had animal-shelter duty right after work, and the Democratic presidential debate is coming on TV in short order, so I knew time would be short (and so would my energy). So this morning before work I took 15 minutes or so to throw a meal into the Crock-Pot … and boy, am I glad I did!
What I didn’t realize when I put together tonight’s vegan beef stew is that we’d also be getting a little bit of rain this afternoon and evening, giving the air a humid chill. I can’t think of a better main course to serve during these times than stew!
This is a recipe from a longtime favorite cookbook, Better Homes and Gardens’ Crockery Cookbook (which, as I may have mentioned before, my friend Stuart always calls the “Crockery Cookery”). This book is such an old friend to me! We’ve been together through thick and thin, through first recipes and new houses and single life and marriage. I love this cookbook, which is now beginning to separate from its spine with use. And this beef stew recipe is such a great mainstay in the book; I could make it again and again (and have!).
I won’t get into all the ins and outs, since our friends at Better Homes and Gardens have books to sell and whatnot, but I was tickled pink to be able to use all local vegetables today – carrots and onions from Mr. Lopez at the Saturday market and potatoes we picked ourselves back in September. The recipe calls for celery, but I was fresh out. No biggie.
I mixed all of those veggies with some herbs and spices, some vegan ground “beef,” and some vegetable juice, flipped the switch to Low, and went to work! By the time I got back form the shelter tonight, having petted cats for an hour or so, dinner was ready and waiting, and not a moment too soon – LeeLee and I were hungry!
We both dug in and enjoyed a couple of heaping helpings, and there’s still plenty left over for lunch tomorrow. Lunches this week have been a joy, I must say – divan today, spinach lasagna from Saturday’s football game on Monday. I can’t wait to enjoy some stew in my Thermos for a midweek kick!
:)