balance

Though the recent holiday was light on chocolate (that was to come later, when the Significant Eater returned from Sydney with a huge box of favourites from Adora) and buns (I’d been eating them all week!) I still felt the need for something vegan and healthy before the weekend was over. Just being around so much sugar and flour made my body cry out for culinary balance

The brunch delight left me hankering for more of the same flavours and the following vegan delight unfolded

Fragrant vegetable and bean stew

In a pot I sautéed some cumin, chilli, garlic, onion and a nice big chunk of young ginger. The fridge held a good array of vegetables just waiting to be cooked, so in went some fennel bulb, carrots and zucchini bursting with organic goodness. For some good quality complex carbs I added a tin of kidney beans. To provide enough liquid so the vegetables could bubble away happily together I used the left over tomatoes from the eggs, about 2/3 of a can and the about a cup of good quality vegetable stock. I wanted the tomatoes to be a background flavour, rather than dominate the combo. For a salt hit I added a handful of green olives.

The stew simmered happily for about half an hour before I could no longer resisted the tempting aroma.

This is a simple template of flavours – add the vegetables and beans of your choice. As always the longer you cook them, the better it is. So make sure there are leftovers for lunch. If you prefer a soup, add more stock. Preparation took less than 10 minutes and the healthy factor is through the roof. What could be simpler?