Thank you for your comments in yesterday’s post! It really cheered me up when I read them this morning after another rough night of little sleep.
Lately, my eats have looked like this…
Blah. Those two pictures look about as exciting as I feel right now.
I think Eric got sick of watching me eat oatmeal, Coconut Bliss, and chia seed pudding all weekend, so he took matters into his own hands and made a kick-butt stew for dinner.
He grabbed every veggie he could find and he announced that a HEALING stew would be made for our unconventional Easter dinner.
With a little guidance from a recipe on Whole Foods, healing magic happened.
Husband's Healing Stew
Yield
Over 10 cups
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Adapted from Whole Foods.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 small sweet onions, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground corriander
- 2 bay leaves (optional)
- 2 small zucchini, chopped
- 1 yellow pepper + 1 red pepper, chopped
- 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 4 cups organic vegetable broth (not low sodium), or more as needed
- 1, 28-oz can diced organic tomatoes (no added salt)
- 1/2 cup uncooked raw buckwheat groats, rinsed (or grain of choice)
- 1/2 cup uncooked pearled barley, rinsed (or grain of choice)
- 1/2 cup frozen Edamame (or bean of choice)
- 1.5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp minced fresh parsley
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder (optional)
- 5-10 shakes red pepper flakes, to taste
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt + Black pepper, to taste
Directions
- In a large pot over low heat, add 1 tbsp olive oil and the chopped sweet onion, green onion, and minced garlic. Heat over low until translucent, about 5-8 minutes.
- Stir in coriander, cinnamon, and two bay leaves and heat an additional minute or two. Now, add in the chopped vegetables (zucchini, peppers, carrots) and cook for about 5 more minutes. Add a bit more oil if necessary.
- Stir in the diced tomatoes, vegetable broth, rinsed buckwheat and pearled barley (or grains of choice). Simmer on low-medium heat (dial 3-4) for 20 minutes, checking often to make sure it doesn’t burn or thin out too much. Add a bit more broth or water if necessary and reduce heat when needed.
- After 20 minutes, add in the lemon juice and additional seasonings- all to taste (minced parsley, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and salt & pepper). Cook for another few minutes, remove bay leaves, and serve with fresh bread. Freeze leftovers or store in the fridge.
Tip:
- You can have success using a wide range of vegetables, seasonings, and grains of your choice.
- Always adjust the seasonings to taste and add them gradually. My taste buds are quite muted right now, so we made it spicy. :)
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)Every good healing stew begins with garlic!
We used pearled barley and raw buckwheat, but you could use any kind of grains you want.
Oh and some frozen Edamame was thrown in at the last minute for extra protein.
Like most soups, there is a lot of chopping to do, but other than that, it is fool-proof.
After simmering for 20 minutes the grains cooked up and the stew got nice and thick.
Eric asked me to add more seasonings, and I think I went a bit crazy with the red pepper flakes! He said it was quite spicy, but I didn’t really taste it. ;) Oops.
Served with fresh bread and Earth Balance….it was the perfect, healing meal.
Even though I can’t taste or smell that well right now, I know this was a good stew! There was a lot of love in it.
The best part about this stew was that my sinuses were clear after eating it. ;)
For dessert, we had a piece of Carrot Cake Loaf with Lemon Glaze– which defrosted wonderfully by the way- and was SUPER fresh! We are in love with it. I will be making this loaf again and again.
There are a lot of healing leftovers for me this week! Take that flu. I’ll squash you like an ant.
Before you go, I have a little assignment for you…
Quite a few of you expressed interest that you would love a follow-up after my Lessons in Self-Love post. Intuitive and mindful eating seemed to be a topic that you wanted to explore more.
I thought it would be cool to see if you have any questions pertaining to the following areas:
- Intuitive & mindful eating
- Binge eating
- Calorie counting
- Weight maintenance
- Happy weight
- Disordered eating
- Body image/Self-confidence
- Hunger signals
I will be happy to provide my own experiences if you have anything on your mind that you would like explored more. Just leave your question (or questions) below and I will pick some of them to answer in a follow-up post, Q & A format.
Hi! I’m sure you hear this a lot, but your blog has made me feel beautiful again. Your experiences and recipes has really helped me battle my body issues (pesky bugger).
One question I have may revolve around binge eating. My Boyfriend lives in Toronto, and he comes to visit me most weekends. When he comes, it always feels like a celebration, and I’m so happy to see him, that all my healthful eating habits go out the weekend and we just enjoy the weekend. I’m having a difficult time balancing this.
Do you have any suggestions? When I’m with him I feel like I turn my satiety center off.
Thanks for being so open with us.
Angela,
I would love to know what bodily signals/cues you had that lead you to a vegan diet?
Thanks and I hope you feel much better soon, that soup looks amazing! :) You’re so right that all healing stew start with lots and lots of garlic! :)
As a vegan, do you count your calories? Do you worry about maintaining your weight?
How do you know when you are hungry? Do you eat by the clock, when your stomach growls, or what feeling do you have when you are hungry?
I would love to hear your opinion on how to help a loved one who binges. About two months ago my mom discovered about two bags full of empty containers, wrappers etc. underneath my sister’s bed. She confronted her, and she acknowledged she needed help. She then went to a dietician who put her on a sugar free diet and saw a pscyhologist once or twice. I went to my parents a few weeks ago and found more empty containers and things under her bed. She does not want to talk about it to anyone and has stopped seeing the dietician and psychologist. I battled anorexia, and exercise bulimia for years, so it’s really hard to see her go through this and not want help.
If you could offer any words of advice that would be amazing!
That soup looks amazing! I’m sure it’ll heal you up right-quick!
I’d love to hear more about intuitive eating. I’m desperately trying to let go of obsessive calorie counting. At this point, I feel that even if I stopped measuring food, I know the approximate serving sizes / calorie counts on most foods so well that I would do all the calculations in my head unintentionally. I know my “target” calorie count is way too low for my height/age/activity level, but I’m terrified that if I stop counting, I’ll gain weight. How did you release yourself form the compulsion and fear?
How long did it take your metabolism to recover after disordered eating? I have been recovered from a few years of restrictive eating for about 2 years, but I still feel like my metabolism is permanently ruined. Does it ever even out, or is there permanent damage done?
intuitive and mindful eating, weight maintenance, and hunger signals is what I am most interested in. Just overcoming 15 years of bulimia. Don’t binge eat any more but haven’t been able to reconnect with the concept of hunger, that is I don’t know when I am hungry or when I am anxious and think it’s hunger. Also, I am now able to manage my portions quite well but I stop eating because I see it’s the end of the portion, not because I feel satisfied, many times I end my portion and still feel hungry- or whatever that feeling is. I would also like to be able to keep my weight more naturally instead of constantly having to think of calories or portions. I loved the post and I also love this soup!
This looks incredible. I love that it’s made of like, everything. Perfect!
Just wanted to drop you a note and let you know that I included you in my list of Top 10 Soup Recipes this morning- here’s the link!
http://thefrugalflambe.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/top-10-soups/
Hello, I ALSO have an eating disorder. I am a cancer patient and I go days with out eating. Then I will take a certain medication and all of a sudden I will crave fatty foods or carbs. I’m interesting in learning some quick vegan recipes that I can whip up and have available when I need them. I would like to maximize health benefits when I feel like eating.
Thank you, this website has inspired me as well, and I too feel “the glow” coming on! ;)
I made this soup to comfort my girlfriend after her mother passed… i would just like to attest that its healing powers reach all the way to the soul! It’s my first try with one of your recipes and it was amazing, simple to make, and delicious. Thank you!
Made this last night and looved it. Great job, hubby! Didn’t have coriander and used just barley, but I still could literally feel myself feeling better. I’m definitely going to make this when feeling sick. It’s so colorful and full of fresh flavors that one can’t help but feel happy.
This looks so yummy! Can’t wait to make it!
Made this stew last night. It was delish! Thanks so much for sharing!
I made this but I didn’t have the bulgur or the buckwheat so I used quinoa and brown rice instead. It was absolutely amazing! I can’t believe I’ve waited this long to make it! I had a ton of leftovers so I frozen them. Today I went out and bought buckwheat and bulgur so I can’t wait to try it out with those! Thank you!
I’ve been battling an evil sore throat all week and have had a hankerin’ for some good soup. I came across this recipe, and let me just say: life changing! It’s so delicious! I only made a couple tiny changes (no red pepper flakes, chicken broth instead of veggie, sweet peas instead of Edamame). I think my favorite part is the cinnamon; never would have thought to add that to stew.
This soup looks awesome and I will be making it soon!
Re the ED questions which were probably answered in the next blog post (I will look for that) I just wanted to add that a book I found helpful was by Geneen ROth and it was called “Breaking Free From Compulsive EAting”
Or maybe it was “Breaking Free From EMotional EAting”
Anyway it was quite ameliorative over the long term, thought I’d mention the title for others who may come across this comments section :)
[Plz feel free to remove or edit this comment if it’s not cool to mention a book title…I’m not affiliated or associated with the author or book company or anything, I just randomly found a copy at the library once, and I liked it.]
Hi,
I just wanted to tell you that I make this stew twice a month, at least. I love having it for lunches. My digestive system feels recharged every time I eat it! I’ve had lots of digestive issues over the years and this really seems to be helping so much! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Leah
Glad to hear that Leah!
I made this last night with quinoa and brown rice. It was absolutely fabulous! I’m looking forward to my lunches this week. Thanks.
I love stews, probably the best food ever. But I don’t eat it often because everytime I do I get sooo thirsty from all the salt in there. :( Anyone has an idea what to do against that? Is there a way to give soups and stews flavour without so much sodium?
Omit the salt. Use fresh tomatoes or sodium-free canned tomatoes. Use sodium-free vegetable broth or make your own from scratch.
LOVE this soup! I am just getting ready to make this for the 2nd time since New Year’s!
Y U M M Y – thank you for sharing with us!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. It was delicious!
Angela! I love your recipes. My VERY “first” cookbook for my apartment next school year will be yours! I would love if you could do a post or give me ideas about what are good foods that save well (freeze, taste great the next day) and what foods are cheap(er) for a girl on a college budget who still wants to glow!
:)
I made this stew and it was fantastic……..I’m wondering if anyone has tried it in a crockpot, and if so, do they liquid amounts remain the same & how long should it cook on low setting?
thanks!
Made this tonight – added cabbage and fresh ginger. So good, very filling!
This recipe is one of my favorties now! The fresh bread on the picture looks so good!! Is it possible to have the recipe? It looks like the perfect combo!! Thank you for your amazing recipes, you are a family favorite!!
Hey Emilie, I’m sorry it was bought from a bakery and I don’t have the recipe. I’ll have to try making a bread recipe for the blog sometime though! :)