Coconut-Curried Vegetable Stew

After talking about my first cookbook last week, I was motivated to make something from it. Despite that it was my first, and a long favorite, there are many things I have never made from it. And though it is a vegetarian cookbook, tons of the recipes are vegan with no modification needed.

I love soups and stews, and autumn and winter are great seasons for warm bowl meals. I found a recipe I hadn’t tried yet but knew I’d love: “Coconut-Curried Vegetable Stew”. Coconut and Curry make for delicious meals, in my opinion!

The ingredient list was pretty normal. Except that in a quirk of fate, my grocery store didn’t have normal cauliflower. Nope, it was orange cauliflower or nothing! I’d had no idea that there was such a thing as orange cauliflower!

Coconut-Curried Vegetable Stew from Recipes from a Vegetarian Goddess (now sold as “Cooking By The Seasons”)

2 Tbsp Canola Oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
4 carrots, scrubbed, sliced into chunks
1/2 head cauliflower, cored, cut into bit-sized pieces
1 1/2 cups cubed butternut squash
1 medium new potatoes (I used small red potatoes), thinly sliced
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp sugar
1 can light coconut milk (I didn’t use light!)
1 cup frozen green peas
1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed
black pepper, freshly ground, to taste
salt, to taste
2.5 – 3 cups cooked basmati rice

For the rice: In a medium sized pot, bring 3 cups of water to boil. Once the water is boiling, add 1.5 cups of rice, lower heat, cover, and simmer the rice for about 40 minutes for brown rice, less for white rice.

For the stew: In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Saute the onion until soft, add the garlic and spices and saute at a lower heat for 1-2 minutes. Add the carrots, butternut squash, cauliflower and potatoes. Stir. Cook for 3 minutes. Add broth and sugar, bring to simmer, and cover. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Add coconut milk and peas. Simmer for about 10 minutes. (Or until veggies are tender.) Add chickpeas and ground pepper, let heat for about 5 minutes, add salt to taste, and serve over rice.

It came together quickly and easily, and is delicious! The Vegetarian Goddess comes through for me again.