Vegetarian Stew Recipes?

[Fraxinus]

Why do you need stock cubes or pots? Surely the veg + water makes its own stock.
While living alone in a Cretan winter I used whatever was available but the mainstays where tomatoes (cheaper fresh than canned) potatoes (big chunks) and aubergines (break down to make a thicker sauce). Fresh and dried local herbs would add flavour layers. What was left on day three got added to pasta.

Rob.

 

[Toddy]

To make good vegetable stock takes time. Out camping or hiking (and mind the OP asked for one pot, and that's presumably not a huge stock pot) then the instant stock cubes and powders do the job very nicely.
It saves carrying extras like salt, pepper, celery seed, etc., since not everyone lives or walks where there are flavourful herbs to be found or available for picking.

I don't like tomato sauce on everything, and in a stew the skins aren't very good, same with aubergines really. I do like both and I do cook both, but not really in a stew....I know about the ratatouille but it's not to everyone's taste.

If I'm out camping and the stew's lasted to day three it's obviously not good and is going to be buried.

Each to their own; it'd be a boring world if we all liked the same food all the time

M

 

[xylaria]

I used to use marmite of vegimite as stock when camping. I use stock cubes now but they dont half have some right crud like msg in them. At least yeast extract I feel like I am adding vitamins.

I said about the blender because I cant get watercress soup or nettle and potato to work without a blender. They are easy to find when camping but dont work too good unblended.

 

[British Red]

Its the fibres in them that is the problem - I find chopping as finely as possible minimises that "eating string" feeling - then, if you want smooth, push through a sieve

I think a metal sieve is a much under rated bit of kit!

 

[Toddy]

Yep

I agree with Fi too though; I like vecon stock as well.

Watercress is easy though. Strip the leaves off (pair of scissors) and use those in the soup, but boil up the stems seperately in a little lightly salted water and strain the water and squeeze the juices from the stems, into the soup pot.

No stringy bits

M

 

[Phaestos]

I'm currently filling a notebook with all these recipes! These are fantastic tips!

 

[Danny1962]

I'm not vegetarian but my wife is, so I eat plenty of veggie food at home. My approach in an outdoor trekking situation would be quite minimalist compared to what I'd do in a kitchen at home.

Soy chunks are good. They are light in weight and will keep for many months as long as they stay dry. You can get them from health food shops or Asian food shops. Don't think of it as "pretend meat", you won't be fooled! Treat it like an ingredient in its own right. It's more like firm tofu than meat. You will need some curry powder or paste to impart some extra flavour to the stew. A chunk of creamed coconut can melt to either add some richness in a stew or can be used to fry something with. It's easy to carry, as it is solid at ambient temperature. A tube of tomato puree and maybe some hot pepper sauce would come in useful too. Cous cous will reconstitute rapidly, add some boiling water, wait a few minutes and that's your carbs sorted. Young nettle plants are the best greens, it's just like spinach when cooked and there's rarely any shortage of these. Young oilseed rape plant leaves are edible, it's closely related to saag.

As for stock, I also find Oxo cubes rather overpowering. Try Marigold Swiss Seasoning powder instead, it's a lot less virulent.

If you simply want to boil water and make a cup-a-soup, try eating it with oatcakes and have some dried apricots for afters. It will fill you up and keep you full, and the soup will warm you up. A pack of pumpkin seeds is also a very good source of protein.

 

[Phaestos]

Absolutely fantastic selection of recipes here. Thank you so much for all the suggestions. I'll be chopping up a mass of veg to take out this coming weekend, and I'll meself a mighty stew

 

[John Fenna]

Some great looking ideas there!
I am no veggie but good tasty food is good tasty food if it contains meat or not

I have to admit that I was tempted, by the thread title, to start my post with

"Take one vegetarian, skin, bone and dice the meat and seal in a hot frying-pan..."

but thought better of it...

 

[TinkyPete]

I have a camp stew I make. I normally do it with meat but it has loads of veg in it and so is easy to leave it out.

Here is is without the meat.

some potatoes (small couple or 1 large) chopped
1 large onion chopped rough
lots of mushrooms (chestnut and button)
several cloves of garlic or lazy garlic (I like lots)
several carrots chopped
parsnips chopped
celery if you want
tomatoes if wanted
several large dashes of lea & Perins
1 stock cube
other herbs and spices to taste
1 or 2 cans of a good ale or guiness or on occasion a bottle of red wine

cook off onion and garlic first in a little oil, add the rest of the veg and liquid
and put near to a fire till you cann't resist it any further and then eat

 

[Goatboy]

Not stews but veggie (well the 2nd one can be) and very tasty and easily done in camp. Both to help use up the local beetroot glut (which is also one of my fave veg)

Beetroot Rösti(V)​

This is one of the best accompaniments I have cooked in ages, absolutely delicious with an almost toffee texture and sweetness and quite spectacular looking.
900 g (2 lb) beetroot(3 very large or 4 to 6 medium) pre-cooked but not in vinegar, see notes below.
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary,leaves chopped, stems discarded
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
½cup of plain flour,(you may not need it all)
2 tablespoons butter
Freshly chopped parsley to garnish


Top and tail the beets and peel with a mandolin or potato peeler
Grate them with a coarse grater or food processor.
Press any excess water out of them using a sieve or a salad spinner.
Heat a large non-stick frying pan on a medium heat.
Toss grated beets in bowl with rosemary,salt and pepper.
Gradually mix in the flour,adding just enough to combine the ingredients, stirring and tossing the mixture.
With your hands, press the beet mixture into patties.
Add the butter to the pan and once it begins to brown,add the beet patties.
Turn the heat up a little, fry the patties for 10 minutes and allow them to crisp, shimmy the pan if they start to stick.
Flip them over and fry for another 10 minutes.
I have tried this recipe with raw beetroot and with pre-cooked beetroot(not in vinegar though!). The pre-cooked version was sweeter and far superior. Pre-cooked beetroot tend to hold more moisture, so give them a good squeeze to remove any excess liquid before adding the flour.

​

Beetroot,Pork &Apple Hash

​

This dish, loosely based on the beetroot rösti. It is fabulous. You could probably make a neater version by frying individual patties. I was more concerned with getting it to the table and eating it so I cooked the whole thing as you would with bubble and squeak,patting it flat in the frying pan and constantly turning it over to ensure that it's cooked evenly. Add a splash of olive oil to the pan if it appears to be drying out.I wouldn't worry about the toasty burnt bits either as they are delicious in their own right. A very successful experiment which went very well with purple sprouting broccoli, sautéed in olive oil and a few crushed cloves of garlic.
Swap out the pork for feta cheese or halloumi cheese and you have a vegetarian version.
3 cooked beetroot,grated and squeezed dry (or spun in a salad spinner)
1 cooking apple,peeled, cored and grated
200 g cooked gammon or ham,shredded
Freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of salt
Olive oil
Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl
Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy based frying pan
Fill the pan with the mixture and pat it flat
Cook on a medium heat for about 5 minutes
After 5 minutes, stir the mixture up with a fish slice
and turn portions of the hash over to ensure its toasted all over
Repeat for 10 minutes so the apple,beets and ham are caramelised.
Serve with purple sprouting broccoli sautéed in crushed garlic and olive oil and new potatoes.