Lonestar Stew

A name befitting a Texas-style vegan dish, and a delicious one at that!

Today was actually a cook-free day for me, since I had leftovers for lunch (almond burger with creamy fresh herb spread on a sprouted whole grain bun, yum!) and ate dinner at my friend Margaret's, who I have decided to deem "Queen of Crockpot Cooking" and "Sire(ess) of Soups" (yes, I'm aware that I just made up a word, but I think Margaret would approve). Margaret and I often make big vats of things and share them with each other, which is a Godsend when you are single and lazy.

Lonestar Stew is from a crockpot cookbook and is very simple, very comforting, and apparently very easy to make (according to Margaret), since it requires only the effort needed to toss ingredients in a crock pot (those ingredients being black-eyed peas, jalapeños, squash, red onion, and spices). It's nice to find another black-eyed pea dish that I enjoy; I never ate them growing up, since my mother hates them. Discovering new yummy food is a huge part of this process for me!

The original recipe calls for pork, but Margaret substituted Tofurky kielbasa, a product I've always made fun of, but have never tried. I'm cautious about eating "fake meat," but Tofurky is made from real organic tofu (very important when you're eating soy products, because of GMOs), and it made a really nice addition to the stew. I'd definitely use it, but I imagine you could also just add more squash in lieu of Tofurkey, if you wanted.

I'm going to see if I can find a copy of this recipe online somewhere, since I'd rather not go to jail for posting copyrighted material online. I do happen to have a personal copy of the recipe, however, so you could possibly twist my arm into giving you some when I make it for myself.

We served the stew alongside several this-es and thats that we had snacked on earlier, including hummus and whole grain crackers, black-peppered cashews, baby carrots, toasted almonds, and, for dessert...vegan organic dark chocolate truffles filled with crystallized ginger and cacao nibs, rolled in raw cacao powder (a recipe I made last week from Radiant Health, Inner Wealth). Can I get a yum-yum holla??

Trying to decide what tomorrow's cooking adventure will be ..right now it's a toss up between Black-eyed Peas and Kale (a favorite that I've made a couple of times) and Creamy Adzuki Beans (which I've never made before. And I'm not even sure what an adzuki bean is...but it looks damn good). Both are from Radiant Health, Inner Wealth.

Thanks for all your support and comments! I'm still trying to figure this blog thing out, as far as design and functions and content and whatnot. As always, would love your feedback!