Recipe: Mushroom Stew.

I love a good stew and it's something that I knew I would miss now that I've made the transition to being a veggie. To me, stews and casseroles are comfort food and something I love to eat when the weather is a little bit rubbish. So after seeking a little bit of inspiration from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's 'Veg' cookbook, I've concocted a delicious mushroom stew recipe, which is so bloody yummy and tastes super rich and almost meaty, but obviously without the meat. And what's even better, is that it's so simple and ready to eat in less than 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

Mushrooms - I personally don't weigh them, I just chop up a load.

1 red onion

Oil - for frying

400ml (ish) Vegetable Stock

A splash of Soy Sauce - you could use red wine if you do so desire.

Seasoning - my choices are usually pepper and dried mixed herbs (I hold the salt as I use soy)

Garlic - 1-2 cloves finely chopped should be enough

1. Roughly chop up your onion and mushrooms. Add your oil to a frying pan and gently fry off until everything softens. Add in your garlic at this point so that it doesn't burn

2. Once your onions and mushrooms are softly fried up with the garlic, add your veg stock and soy sauce/red wine, stir it up and gently simmer to reduce into a nice, veggie gravy. You could add any dried herbs at this point too.

3. Once reduced, season to your taste and it's ready to serve. See, I told you it was super simple!

I originally served my stew with some creamy polenta (basically, polenta made with half water, half almond milk), but you could serve it with garlic mashed spuds or roasties too. I've even eaten it as leftovers with an edamame and spinach salad! The choices are endless. I've also made this and thrown a couple of Linda McCartney red onion and rosemary sausages in to make it more of a sausage casserole (which is my ultimate comfort food!) But the point is, the mushrooms act as an amazing beef substitute, without needing to even add meat replacement. 

Any fellow veggies out there have any fool proof, comforting recipes that they turn to in times of need? I'd love for you to share either in the comments below, or drop me a tweet @mygenerallife!

While you're here, why not check out my previous post - 5 Tips for Keeping Active.

Instagram/Pinterest/Email Sign Up/Facebook/Bloglovin'