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

2 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