Wild Rice & Vegetable Stew
I know it may seem weird, but I have still eaten quite a bit of soup here in Hawaii. I love making soups and stews because I feel like it gives me room to be creative. I can throw whatever I want into a soup/stew and whip it up pretty quickly. Because of that, soups are a great way to use up leftover ingredients in your kitchen. Also, they are great if you don’t have time to stand over your stove while making dinner. You can be getting ready, taking care of the kids or just kicking back watching Top Chef while your soup works its magic.
Zucchini & Eggplant Stew
I feel like I need to apologize for this post if you don’t like zucchini or eggplant, but I just can’t seem to use it all up! It is seriously like the magical vegetable combination that just keeps returning after you take it out of your fridge. If you have partial zucchinis and eggplants leftover from other dishes, this is a great way to put them to use and eliminate wasting them. Once again, please bear with me; I have felt like I have eaten zucchini and/or eggplant for every meal (even at work!) for the last month!
Sun-Dried Tomato, Flank Steak & White Bean Stew
I feel the need to start this post by saying that this was supposed to be a recipe for Mexican Posole. Of course, I had a bit of trouble with the one ingredient needed to make an actual posole- the hominy. I have heard many people say that they usually used canned hominy, but I decided to use dry hominy since that was what was in the pantry. Recalling my artichoke disaster, I am noticing a trend that apparently canned food works better for a lot of things. Luckily, I had a feeling the dry hominy would take a long time to cook and decided to cook it separately, rather than cooking it in the stew. I must have refilled the pot with water at least four times, but the hominy still wasn’t getting soft. I don’t know what I did wrong, but I had to improvise from there. I decided that white kidney beans would be a good substitute for the hominy, since they kind of have a similar texture.
Spiced Pork & Chickpea Stew
Soups and stews are great for an easy, worry-free dinner. All you need to do is combine the ingredients and let the pot work its magic. If you have other things to do, or don’t feel like slaving over your stove, I highly recommend making a soup or stew. Me being the spice lover that I am, I like to go buck wild when making mine. You would have to add a LOT of spices to mess up… When in doubt always give it an extra shake. It is also important to taste along the way with soups and stews as well though, just in case the flavor needs to be adjusted. I usually try to wait until the end before adding any salt.
This stew is healthy and delicious. If you were a fan of my Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup, I suggest making this one as well. Many pork stew recipes use hominy, but I opted for using chickpeas because they are packing with nutrients and are much healthier than a corn based product. If you like your stew spicier, add a bit of cayenne pepper to this recipe. This is great serves with a toasted loaf of French bread.
