Adzuki Bean Stew, Roasted Vegetable Stock, Wild Ginger Salad Dressing

For a book that’s been hidden away for about a year, Fresh at Home is certainly getting a lot of play lately. Last night we had Adzuki Bean Stew that was awesome – spicy and wonderfully flavorful – accompanied by rye toast (to absorb some of the heat) and a chunky salad. I tried their Geisha Salad Dressing (couldn’t resist the name) but even though everyone else thought it was okay – “Okay” just isn’t good enough for me. So I’ve given you one of their other dressings that I’ve eaten at Fresh and is scrumptious.

Being a die hard carnivore, I’m not a big fan of vegetable stock as a base. If vegetarians come over, I use a boxed or canned version. Over the years I’ve tried many and found all of them insipid or overpowering and none had a taste I liked. But Fresh had a roasted vegetable stock that sounded amazing and it was soooooooo good and so easy (and smelled so delicious while the vegetables were roasting) that I’ll never even think of buying vegetable stock again. Check it out below.

Adzuki Bean Stew

Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Cook time: 10-15 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 tbsp olive oil
2 cooking onions, diced
2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cayenne pepper (next time I’ll only use ½ - we’re wimps)
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
4 cups cooked or canned adzuki beans (I used 2 19 oz cans)
2 tbsp tomato paste
¼ cup tamari (or soy sauce)
2 cups roasted vegetable stock (recipe below)

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a pot over medium heat.

2. Add onions and ginger and cook 5 minutes or so, until the onions are soft and translucent.

3. Add oregano, cayenne and cinnamon, stir and cook until you can smell the wonderful aromas (about 1 minute).

4. Add beans, tomato paste, tamari and vegetable stock.

5. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes and serve.

Roasted Vegetable Stock

Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Roasting time: 20-30 minutes
Simmer time: 2 hours

Makes 8 cups ( I froze some in 2 cup portions)

Ingredients:
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped (I like using the leafy part as well)
1 onion, coarsely chopped
2 large tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic
2 cups of mushrooms, coarsely chopped (I prefer cremini, but I bet reconstituted porcini would be great)
16 cups water
½ cup Italian parsley, roughly chopped
½ tsp whole black peppercorns

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F/ 200°C

2. Place chopped carrots, celery, onion, tomato, garlic and mushrooms on a baking sheet with a lip, sprinkle about ¼ cup of water over the vegetables.

3. Roast for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and start to brown at the edges (it will depend on how chopped they are).

4. Remove vegetables from the baking sheet and place in a Dutch oven, stock pot or other large pot. Add water, parsley and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 2 hours. The smell is ambrosial!!!

5. Strain, and chill.

I freeze the stock in 2 cup portions to use as base for many stews etc. It’s awesome.

Wild Ginger Dressing (the one I DIDN’T use this time)

Prep time: 5 minutes

Makes about 1 cup and keeps in the fridge for at least 2 weeks

Ingredients:
½ mild onion, finely chopped
½ cup sunflower oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
¼ stalk celery finely chopped
1 tbsp tamari
1 ½ tsp sugar (they suggest raw, unrefined, but I just use regular)
1 ½ tsp lemon juice
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper

Directions:
Combine everything in a blender and process until smooth.

It’s so tasty!!!

Oh – and we had their strawberry lavender muffins once again. All in all, Fresh at Home a great cookbook even for carnivores.