Thursday, March 17, 2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We all know that I love themes, so it should come as no surprise that I made a themed meal for St. Patrick's day!  It took me awhile to find a recipe for Irish stew that didn't have a flavoured soy fake meat product as the main ingredient.  I try to feed my children as little processed food as possible.  Do they eat it occasionally?  Of course, but I try to avoid it as often as I can.  I finally found this one with tvp and lentils which automatically made it the perfect recipe for me.  I made a few modifications but just for personal taste preference.  I remember when I first became a vegetarian (my reasons made for a GREAT story, lol) I survived on pb&j on rice cakes, and a friend used to sing the praises of tvp.  Being a teenager I never wanted to try it... it was toooo weird, but now... YUM!  We love it.  I couldn't find the chunks that this recipe called for so I just used flakes, they worked out just fine.  I served it with some homemade Irish soda bread which took a lot longer to cook than the recipe said it would.  The best part about this recipe was how easy it was, perfect meal for a dreary, wet day!

 Irish Stew

chopped onions 
1/4 cup unbleached flour 
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup sliced carrots  
1/2 cup chopped parsnips
1 cup chopped turnips
1 cup diced celery
1 cup split red lentils 
1/2 cup fresh parsley 
1/4 cup soy sauce 
1 bay leaf 
2 teaspoons marmite 
1 teaspoon sugar 
1/4 teaspoon thyme 
1/4 teaspoon rosemary 
1/4 teaspoon marjoram 
 salt and pepper  
1 cup textured vegetable protein

*Saute onions in oil for 5 minutes
*Add flour and stir quickly
*Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, and simmer for 30(ish) minutes

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