Hearty White Bean Stew

Tuesday, November 30, 2010


(Finally got my camera fixed, so hopefully no more cameraphone pics!)
With the weather getting colder by the day, I am finding my mind and body to be drawn towards warm, hearty meals….soups, chilis, etc. Yesterday, I had about half of our “turkey” loaf left from Thanksgiving, so I decided to make a nice stew with it. Now, if you have ever read anything on this blog, you know that I’m a lazy cook. I like to put things together, but I like for something else to do the hard work for me. Which is why I’m so in love with my crock pot. Seriously. I can throw a bunch of stuff in it before work, pop that sucker on low, and when I come home not only does the house smell amazing, but dinner is already ready! Which, on a night like last night (I had a hysteroscopic resection of two fibroids so needless to say I was sore and a little out of it) it was nice to come home to dinner already made so I could eat and go straight to bed. The only prep on this meal is soaking some beans the night before.

Hearty “Turk’y” Stew

1 cup of dry navy beans
5 cups strong vegetable stock
2 tablespoons basil
1 tablespoon marjoram
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (or less if you don’t like spicy)
1 onion, diced and caramelized
½ “turk’y” loaf or one package of seitan, chopped into bite-sized pieces


The night before making this, take your one cup of navy beans and soak them overnight.

Rinse the soaked beans, and add them, the stock, basil, marjoram, garlic powder and cayenne to your crock pot. Place on low for about 7 hours or high for about 4 hours.

When you have about 30 minutes of cooking time left, add your caramelized onion and seitan/loaf.

Salt and pepper to your liking (don’t add salt while it’s cooking, as this makes the beans harden and crumble), garnish with some chopped basil, and enjoy on its own or poured over brown rice. Yummy!


Seriously folks, it doesn’t get much easier than that!

7 comments:

Twisted Cinderella said...

Sounds so yummy!

Veg Atalanta said...

here is my question regarding slow cookers which is why i've been slightly frightened of them haha. what if i'm not home for, say, 9 hours instead of 7? am i able to still cook this stew?...i'm a bit cooking illiterate;) thanks for this post though looks delicious!

Danielle said...

Veg, of course! Most of my stuff ends up in there longer than 9 hours, just because I'm at work from 8-5, plus my drive home...it's no big deal. This was only in about 7 hours because I was home earlier than usual. I also know that some of the nicer ones have timers on them. Mine just has "low" "high" and "warm"...which it says in the manual not to use the "warm" setting for longer than an hour, but the other ones are okay. But pretty much any time I slow-cook beans (which is the only way I do them) they are in there between 7-9 hours.

Jaime said...

Looks perfect for a winters day! Yum! :)

Unknown said...

I immediately went to find the recipe for the turkey loaf and can't wait to try this recipe. It sounds yummy!

Danielle said...

The turkey loaf is absolutely delicious! You'll love it! And I've used the leftovers in so many things now, from burritos to stir-fry, to this stew...it's so versatile!

Anonymous said...

Wow! I really need to try that one, I am a very lazy cook... I need a crockpot. :) Thanks for the recipe.. I also feel that I am being drawn towards soups this time of year. YUM.

Post a Comment

I love your feedback. Thanks for stopping by!

Chronicles of a Dairyland Vegan Copyright © 2009 Designed by Ipietoon Blogger Template for Bie Blogger Template Vector by DaPino