NEVER ENOUGH GARLIC

We love a good stew, especially in the cold winter months. In our opinion, stews are the perfect winter food because they have the ability to be hearty and filling and can be served with pretty much anything, from rice to pasta or bread. 

This hearty vegan steak 'n mushroom stew is a winter staple at our house because there are so many reasons to love it: it's so easy to make, it's absolutely delicious, and it's the perfect dish to make in large batches and keep in the freezer for those busy days! Oh, and it works brilliantly for lunch or dinner all year long. Yep, remember that stews are not just for the winter.

Ingredients:

• 2 (175 g/6.2 oz) vegan steaks (we used Aldi's)
• 375 g (13.2 oz) baby potatoes
• 1 jar (170 g/6 oz) button mushrooms
• 150 ml (2/3 cups) vegan red wine
• 550 ml (2.3 cups) warm water
• 1 can (400 g/14 oz) chopped tomatoes
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 2 thin green capsicums
• 6 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 red onions
• 1.5 cubes of vegetable stock
• 1 heaping tsp. of Marmite
• 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp. tamarind paste (optional)
• 2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1.5 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 2 tbsp. corn starch
• 1 tsp./half a fresh chilli (we used habanero) - adjust according to chilli preferences
• Olive oil for greasing stuff

Instructions:

1. Chop the onion, and toss it in a large pot with some olive oil. Sautée on medium heat.
   
2. Cut up the vegan steaks into small cubes. In an oven-proof dish, toss the steak pieces in a little bit of olive oil, and roast the steak pieces in the oven at 200°C (390°F) for approx. 20 min. while the rest of the stew is cooking.* 
3. Add the button mushrooms to the pot along with the crushed garlic. Sautée until the mushrooms start to look golden brown.
4. Peel the potatoes if necessary, and chop them into small cubes. Finely chop the capsicums, tomatoes, and chilli. Add all the chopped veggies to the pot.  
   
5. Dissolve the Marmite, tamarind paste, and vegetable stock cubes in the warm water, and pour the mixture into the pot, making sure to cover the potatoes with the liquid. 
6. Pour in the wine and the can of chopped tomatoes, and add all the spices. 
7. Stir well and bring to a boil. Let the stew simmer on low/medium heat for 15 minutes under a lid.
8. Once the 15 minutes are up, add the oven-roasted vegan steak pieces. 
9. Stir in the corn starch to thicken the stew, and simmer for another 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked (you should be able to easily poke a fork through the pieces).
10. Serve hot on its own or with rice or bread. Enjoy!

*This step is optional, but we find that vegan "meats" have a tendency to get soft and sort of disintegrate in stews and soups, and roasting the steak in the oven prevents it from doing this. Alternately, you can toss the steak in the pot with the onions if you prefer and sautée it a bit instead.