Roasted Fall Vegetable White Bean Stew
Eating this stew on a chilly autumn evening will warm and sooth you in an instant. A complete meal in itself, it contains everything you need: vegetables, beans, some grain and even greens stirred in at the end. The spelt berries add a satisfying textural contrast to creamy beans and the rich, earthy flavor of roasted vegetables.
Kombu is a highly nutritious sea vegetable that is cooked with beans to make them more digestible. It may be purchased natural food stores and Asian markets.
Combine the beans and spelt berries in a bowl, rinse, drain, cover with at least 2 inches of filtered water and soak over night.Remove leaves from rosemary, sage and thyme, reserving stems. Mince herbs and set aside.
Drain the beans and spelt berries and place in a pressure cooker or pot. Add reserved herb stems, bay leaves and kombu. Cover with ½ inch of filtered water, bring up to high pressure and cook for 30 minutes. If you are using a pot cover with 2 inches of water and simmer for 1 ½ hours, or until tender.
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
Place squash, turnips, carrots and Jerusalem artichokes in a large bowl. Add a large pinch of salt and pepper and drizzle with 2 tablespoon of the olive oil. Toss and spread into a roasting pan in a single layer, bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and drizzle about ½ a cup of filtered water over the vegetables, this helps deglaze the pan, set aside.
Warm remaining olive oil in a medium size pot, add onions and sauté over medium heat until they begin to brown. Stir in garlic, celery, leeks, minced herbs and a pinch of salt. Cook for a few minutes, lower heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until celery is tender. Add the cooked beans, spelt berries and as much of the cooking liquid you need for the stews desired thickness. Simmer for a few minutes.
Using a rubber spatula scrape the roasted vegetables into the pot, add vinegar and tamari and simmer 10 minutes to allow flavors to meld. Stir in kale and cook a few minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Amy Chaplin
Amy Chaplin is an Australian living in New York City by way of Amsterdam and London. She grew up in rural New South Wales in a family and community of gourmet vegetarians; cooking and eating meals from her family’s biodynamic garden sparked her passion for fresh ingredients and hand-made food. It can be said that Chaplin’s career as a chef began while making bread with her father and peeling apples for her mother’s crumble. Chaplin’s upbringing also helped inspire her philosophy, that how and what we eat directly affects the world in which we live, as well as our own well-being. To this day the food she cooks features local, organic and plant-based ingredients. After 5 years as executive chef of the world-renowned vegan restaurant Angelica Kitchen, Amy now consults, cooks and teaches privately, her clients include Natalie Portman and Anna Devera Smith, among others. Chaplin finds herself dispensing recipes and answering queries about the health benefits of ingredients on a daily basis. This whole foods chef is always happy to share her passion for the natural culinary arts and loves inspiring others to cook and eat well too.