Apologies for my lack of recipe posting, but the writing muse has put her slippers under the bed and my new novel is taking most of my time at the moment.
I discovered the Ikarian Stew recipe on The Happy Pear Youtube page, and now it is one of our weekly staples. Packed full of anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals, it’s a real whole food plant based super stew. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AXpf3YiuIU&t=165s
I’m thrilled to say, the last batch I made had chickpeas, lentils and black beans that I’d cooked myself from scratch,rather than using tins. You can find out how here https://wendysteele.com/2020/04/23/how-to-cook-dried-beans-and-legumes/
In the next few weeks, I’ll also be able to use my own home grown kale, which is starting to get going in one of my raised vegetable beds. 
This stew is simple, hearty and delicious. As long as you keep the basic recipe, variants are fine. Our last one was abundant in carrots but lacking a leek, but still tasted scrumptious.
Ikarian Stew
2 medium onions
2 cloves garlic
2 carrots 150g
2 leeks 400g
½ teaspoon salt (I left this out)
1 tin black beans -240g drained
1 tin chick peas
1 tin cooked lentils
150g dry wholewheat pasta (or brown rice)
200g broccoli (I use 1 head)
100g kale
1 tin chopped tomatoes
100g tomato paste
2 tablespoons tamari (or soya sauce)
2.5 litres vegetable stock
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 Chop and sweat onions and garlic in a large pan without oil – add 2 tablespoons, or more if necessary. of the veg stock to stop it sticking
2 Add carrots, leeks, broccoli and kale stalks and salt and 50ml stock. Put lid on and sweat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3 Add rest of ingredients. Lid on, simmer for 10 minutes. Taste, adjust seasoning and add chilli flakes if you like. I then simmered for another 15 minutes, again with the lid on, then turned off the pot and left it. It thickens up beautifully.
Depending how big your portions are, this feeds 6-8 people, and it freezes well. Enjoy!
Check out other tried and tested plant based recipes by typing ‘plant based’ into the search box on the Home page.
I’m not only a passionate eater and advocate of delicious plant based food, but a writer, healer and crafter. Check out my Youtube channel Phoenix and the Dragon for free stories and updates on my riverbank. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw3ee9CuNdek9ZC1Im8I_iA?view_as=subscriber
