How to cook vegetable stew: 5 secrets and 5 unusual recipes

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Diversify potatoes and zucchini with peas, Brussels sprouts, celery or artichokes.

Vegetable stew is a versatile dish that will develop your culinary imagination. You can combine any vegetables. The main thing is to remember a few rules.

5 secrets of delicious vegetable stew

1. It is best to cut the vegetables into equal chunks. This will make them fried and stew more evenly, and the stew itself will look prettier.
2. There are several cooking technologies. All vegetables can be fried or boiled separately, and then combined and bring the stew until cooked. Or first fry (usually with onions, carrots and garlic) and add the rest of the ingredients one at a time. In the first case, the vegetables will keep their shape better.
3. If you choose the second cooking method, try to place the vegetables in the correct order. Otherwise, the stew can turn into a shapeless mass. Start by adding harder vegetables such as potatoes, peppers, or pumpkin. And after a while, lay out the soft ingredients: tomatoes, peas or greens.
4. To prevent the vegetables from burning during cooking, you can add a little water or broth to the stew. Especially if the dish contains no juicy watery vegetables.
5. The taste and smell of seasonings may change due to prolonged heating. Therefore, add them in the middle of cooking or near the end. Then the dish will turn out to be more aromatic.

5 recipes for vegetable stew

As already mentioned, stews can be made from any food found in the kitchen. But if you are fed up with the usual combinations of vegetables, try these interesting dishes.

1. Vegetable stew with Brussels sprouts, corn and pumpkin

Ingredients

• 300 g brussels sprouts;
• salt to taste;
• 150 g pumpkin;
• 1 carrot;
• 1 leek;
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 250 g canned corn;
• 100 g frozen, fresh or canned green peas;
• ½ red bell pepper;
• 1 teaspoon of Italian herbs seasoning;
• a few sprigs of dill;
• a few sprigs of parsley.

Preparation

Cut the Brussels sprouts in half, or leave whole if they are small. Boil the cabbage in boiling salted water for 5-7 minutes and drain in a colander.

Chop the peeled pumpkin and carrots into large cubes and the onions into rings. Heat the oil in a skillet and sauté the onions. Add pumpkin and carrots, add some corn liquid and simmer, covered over medium heat, about 10 minutes.

Add the peas and diced peppers to the vegetables and cook for another 7 minutes. Place the cabbage and corn in the pan, add salt, Italian herbs and chopped greens. Stir and simmer for another 5 minutes.

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2. Spicy vegetable stew with cauliflower, potatoes, chickpeas and spinach

Ingredients

• 1 head of cauliflower;
• salt to taste;
• 800 g potatoes;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• 1 green chili
• 1 onion;
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of butter;
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon curry
• 350 g of boiled or canned chickpeas;
• 250 g spinach.

Preparation

Disassemble the cabbage into inflorescences and dip in boiling salted water for 5 minutes. Then discard in a colander and leave 150 ml of the liquid in which the cabbage was boiled.

Peel the potatoes and cut into large pieces. Boil in boiling salted water for 10 minutes and drain in a colander.

Chop the garlic and chili into thin slices and the onion into half rings. In a skillet, heat two types of oil over low heat and sauté the garlic, chili and onion until soft.

Add turmeric, coriander, mustard, ginger, curry and salt, stir and cook for a couple of minutes. Put the cabbage and potatoes into the pan, add the water remaining from the cabbage and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the chickpeas and spinach and cook until the herbs are tender.

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3. Vegetable stew with zucchini, eggplant, tomato and pepper

Ingredients

• 2 eggplants;
• 3 zucchini;
• 3 red or yellow peppers;
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 red onions;
• 4 cloves of garlic;
• ½ bunch of basil;
• a few sprigs of thyme;
• 6 tomatoes;
• 400 g of tomatoes in their own juice;
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• salt to taste;
• ground black pepper - to taste;
• ½ lemon.

Preparation

Chop the eggplants, courgettes and peppers into large pieces. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the vegetables, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until golden brown and tender. Place the vegetables in a bowl.

Cut the onion into quarters and the garlic into slices. Pour the remaining oil into the skillet and add the onion, garlic, chopped basil stalks, and thyme leaves. Fry, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes.

Return the eggplants, courgettes and peppers to the pan. Add coarsely chopped fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, salt and pepper. Stir well and cook covered over low heat for 30–35 minutes.

Add whole basil leaves, finely grated lemon zest and salt if necessary. Stir and cook for another minute.

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4. Vegetable stew with celery, tomatoes and green beans

Ingredients

• 1 onion;
• 1 red bell pepper;
• 2 celery stalks;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• 600 g of tomatoes;
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 300 g green beans;
• a few sprigs of parsley;
• a few sprigs of dill;
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme;
• salt to taste;
• ground black pepper - to taste.

Preparation

Cut the onion into thin half rings, the peeled pepper into thin strips, and the celery into large slices. Chop the garlic.

Dip the tomatoes in boiling water for a while, put them in ice water and peel them. Then cut them into quarters, remove the seeds and cut into thin strips.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and sauté the onions and garlic. Add pepper, celery and green beans and cook for 2-3 minutes. Pour in some water, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes, chopped herbs, thyme, salt and black pepper. Stir and simmer the vegetables, covered, for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

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5. Vegetable stew with peas, artichokes and white wine

Ingredients

• 10 tomatoes;
• 8 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic;
• 4 carrots;
• 6 sprigs of thyme;
• 4 dried bay leaves
• 300 ml of white wine;
• 1 kg of frozen green peas;
• 3 bunches of green onions;
• 400 g canned artichokes;
• salt to taste.

Preparation

Pour boiling water over the tomatoes for a couple of minutes, then drain and peel the vegetables. Cut them into quarters, remove the seeds and cut the tomatoes into small cubes.

Heat oil in a skillet, add chopped garlic and diced carrots and sauté for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, thyme, lavrushka and wine and cook for another 5 minutes.

Place the peas, chopped onions and artichokes with the vegetables. Cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves, season the stew with salt and stir well.