A Vegetable Stew Throwdown (plus a winner!)

I have a great post for y'all today. I was honored to be chosen for the Aetna Healthy Food Fight as a finalist! Sadly, I wasn't able to attend the event and participate...but it was awesome enough to have my recipe chosen by the Culinary Institute of America!! The finals of this "food fight" was going to be judged by Bobby Flay. This had my competitive juices flowing and I've decided to do a throwdown!...with myself. Bobby wouldn't email me back. ;)

But first, I want to announce the winner of my Ghirardelli giveaway! And the winner is.....

"LambAround said....I'm all about the pumpkin pie (although, pumpkin cookies certainly sound good too!)"

Comment #10! Congratulations, LambAround! You're gonna love this chocolate :) E-mail me with your mailing address so I can forward it to Ghirardelli and get your chocolate in the mail!

On to the throwdown! These are two very different stews using on the same vegetables. One is creamy, one is brothy...both are rich. One is the ultimate comfort food while the other tastes like an indulgence. Who will win?! 

Vegetable Dumpling Stew

based on Vegetarian Time Low-Fat & Fast cookbook

Serves 2

• 1/2 Tb. olive oil
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 small onion, cut into wedges
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 4 oz baby carrots, cut in half
• 1 cup fresh green beans, stemmed and snapped in half
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/3 cup flour

Dumplings

• 3/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
• 1/3 cup low-fat milk
• 1 egg white, slightly beaten
• 1/2 Tb. oil

(Forgive the pictures! My camera died right before beginning this stew! So these are all taken with my cell phone!)

For the stew, heat oil in a 2-qt saucepan over medium heat. Cook the celery and onion, stirring until tender-crisp, about 3 minutes. 

Stir in broth, carrots and green beans, bay leaf, thyme, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the dumplings. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and seasoning. Add milk, egg white, and oil; mix well. Set aside.

In a measuring cup and small bowl, combine 1/3 cup flour and cold water; whisk until smooth. Gradually stir flour mixture into stew. Bring to a boil over high heat. 

Drop dumpling batter by heaping tablespoons into stew. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover. 

Simmer until dumplings are no longer doughy, about 10 minutes. 

Nutritional Information (for half of stew): 378 calories, 9 g fat, 5 g fiber, 13 g protein

This was an extremely easy stew. I had never made dumplings before and this was a great way to get me addicted. Very yummy.

Beefless Vegetable Stew

adapted from Gardein's recipe database

Serves 2

• 1/2 package Gardein beefless tips
• 1 Tb. oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 medium red onion, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 oz baby carrots, cut in half
• 1 large potato (about 9 oz), quartered
• 1 1/2 Tb. flour
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup dry red wine (I used Merlot)

These babies are the featured ingredient in this stew. I like trying new meatless products because it can add variety to my options. These weren't so good in stroganoff we had with them but perfect for this. Plus, they are a GMO-free source of protein (more on my new GMO-free obsession in a later post).

Heat oil in a large saucepan or stockpot over medium-high heat. Add beefless tips and brown on all sides. Remove from saucepan and place in a container. Cover and refrigerate until needed later.

Add garlic, onion and celery to pot and cook for 3 minutes. 

Add carrots, potatoes and thyme and continue to cook for 3 more minutes.

Need a good, inexpensive wine? This one was fabulous. I got for $5 on sale and thought it was awesome. It was perfect for the stew and I enjoyed a few glasses by themselves as well ;)

Sprinkle on flour and slowly add wine and broth while stirring. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. (Does it look super purple to you?! I'm thinkin I may have had a heavier hand with the wine bottle ;) haha)

Add beefless tips back in and cook for 5 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Nutritional Information (for half of stew): 377 calories, 8.6 g fat (1.2 g sat), 6.9 g fiber, 15.6 g protein

I am finding that stews in general are easy to make! This one was just as easy as the first one. And soo indulgent. The wine broth was ahhhmazing. I could've just drunk it straight. 

So which one wins?! I have no clue. They were both SO GOOD ...YOU can try them both and let me know which one YOU think. Tip the scales a bit. ;)

Sorry for all the blog layout changes; every week it seems I change something else. I'm working on a whole new look and I'm almost satisfied. There will be a few more changes over the next couple weeks and then it'll be complete. Anyone have crazy fun fall plans for the weekend? Until next time... ♥