I know you might find this difficult to believe, but some days I’m just not in the mood to cook. But with frequent food shortages at the market (meaning not a lot of easy things like salad fixings), a distinct lack of eating out options for vegans and my overall dislike for a lot of frozen or already made meals, I have to cook anyway.
No big deal. I’m a big girl and I can whip up a quick and easy vegan dinner as good (possibly better) the rest.
But let’s focus on the not in the mood part. I’ve been spending a lot of time in the writing cave because I really want to finish the second book in my Emerald Creek series and most of my free time not spent doing other work is going to that.
So imagine my surprise when eleven o’clock rolls around, my stomach is growling and it’s my night to cook. What’s a good little vegan to do?
Quick & easy, of course!
This dish literally cmae out of nowhere and honestly I didn’t even name it in Cronometer, just called it Chx Pumpkin Stew so, let’s go with that and get to cookin’!
Kitchen Tools:
All you’ll need to whip up this dish is a good kitchen knife, a cutting board, kitchen scale and cooking utensils. That’s it.
Ingredients:
*Couscous (or whatever grain tickles your pickle)
*Onion
*Garlic
*Ginger
*Pumpkin puree
*Peas
*Chili pepper (with or without seeds)
*Waste free broth or water
Instructions:
*Start the broth or water for the couscous. It’s your basic 2 to 1 ratio for water to grains. Boil the water, add the couscous, remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes before fluffing it.
*For the rest, let’s start with the onions. Give them a rough chop along with chili pepper, garlic and ginger. Add to a pot. As always you can use oil but if you’re shooting for an oil free vegan recipe, I recommend adding a bit of liquid to the pot first.
*Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until onions are translucent and garlic and ginger have your entire skilling smelling like a restaurant!
*Add in your favorite vegan meat alternative. I used Verdino “Just like Chicken” filets. They look a little too much like chicken but they are great in a pinch because you can just chop them up and toss them into anything.
*Stir in pumpkin puree. I was feeling lazy but I had oven roasted a blue pumpkin in the oven earlier in the day so I used that. I did not puree it, rather I just mashed it with the back of a wooden spoon inside the pot, adding liquid and stirring until it reached the consistency I was looking for.
*Add more water or broth along with the peas, depending on how thick you want this to be. If you want this to be creamier, add coconut milk. Let it come to a boil and then reduce to a simmer until all the flavors blend.
*Add in herbs and spices like smoky paprika, cumin, curry, curcuma and of course, salt and pepper. Fresh herbs would also work well in this recipe.
*Serve on top of couscous or on the side. Most of all, enjoy!
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Oh, and before you go! If you’re interested in what I’m working on, get info on Best Of My Love here or buy it HERE!
The Spicy Spatula 
Whatcha think?