Curried Sweet Potato & Quinoa Stew
Yesterday was one of those perfect Sundays where it was chilly but sunny. It made me want to do nothing but stay in my sweats and veg out on my couch with all of the windows open & a big pot of soup on the stove. After a trip to Whole Foods and the farmer’s market that’s exactly what I did. I loved the way my house smelled from this soup was simmering.
This comes out thick, which is why I’m calling it a stew. I actually planned on having it be a soup, but it was thicker than expected. What does Rachel Ray call that? A “stoup?” Anyway, when I had some in between lunch & dinner I had 1 cup of the stew plus 1 cup of vegetable broth. That’s probably how I’ll eat it all week so I made sure to have a container of vegetable broth in the fridge.
I think this would be incredible topped with some vegan sour cream and roasted pumpkin seeds.
Curried Sweet Potato & Quinoa Stew
Servings: 8 (10?) ● Points Plus: 6
Ingredients:
- 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into about 1” cubes
- 1 poblano pepper, diced
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 1 celery stalk, split in half & diced
- 1 large vidalia onion, diced
- 8 cups water
- 3 vegan vegetable bouillon cubes, low sodium
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 TB olive oil
- 2 TB vegan low fat butter substitute
- 2 cups uncooked quinoa, rinsed
- 2 TB curry powder
- 2 TB minced ginger (I buy it crushed in a jar)
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1/4 tsp salt, more to taste
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 4-6 cups vegetable broth for serving (if you like it thinned out)
Directions:
1) In a large soup pot, melt the butter together with the olive oil. Add the sweet potatoes, onion, carrot, celery, poblano & garlic. Saute about 5 minutes until they begin to soften.
2) Add the spices: ginger, curry, cayenne, coriander, cumin, salt, pepper. Toss all of the vegetables with the spices & let cook about another 3 minutes. Crush the bouillon cubes over the vegetables & add the water.
3) Make sure the quinoa has been rinsed under cold water in a fine mesh strainer. Add the quinoa to the soup & bring to a boil with the lid on. Once the soup is boiling reduce to simmer & cook for 30 minutes, stirring every once in a while. The quinoa will absorb a good amount of the liquid.
4) Taste for seasoning & adjust the spices if you think necessary. Scoop 1 cup of the stew into a bowl & top with 1 cup warm vegetable broth if you want it soupy. Top each serving with an extra dash of curry powder.
