Getting My Irish (Stew) Up

It snowed here last night - absolutely beautiful to wake up to (especially since I work from home). But with the snow came a cold spell, so even though I was saving this recipe for St. Patrick's Day, I'm figuring today's a good day for it.

I can't take credit for this one entirely - the original showed up in a Vegetarian Times issue not long ago. But I've made it my own with a few changes while trying to stick closely to the original (because it really was so darned good). Full credit to VT for the idea.

Irish Stew

Nonfat cooking spray
1 tub Ray's Wheat Meat (or your favorite seitan)
2 carrots, sliced
1 Tbl. flour
4 slices Fakin' bacon, sliced into strips (I use one that looks like Canadian bacon)
1 tsp. fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme (use fresh if you can)
1 cup stout beer (I use Belhaven Scottish Ale, but Guinness works, as does any good brown ale)
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup butternut squash, cubed,
OR
1 Yukon potato, cubed (I prefer the potato)
1/2 cup frozen edamame

Spray a soup pot with oil and heat. Stir in carrots and cook for about 5 minutes. (add a little water if it begins to stick, but not more than a few Tbls.) Add flour and cook for 2 minutes.

Add seitan (without draining), bacon, and thyme. Stir and cook for 2 more minutes.

Add beer and bring to a boil. As it boils, scrape the bottom of the pan frequently. I tend to reduce the liquid to a little over 1/2 cup. Add broth and potato/squash. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Add edamame and cook 5-10 more minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.


I serve this with mashed or boiled potatoes. Because you add flour to this, it usually gets thick enough to serve on a plate.

Meat eaters - this one's easy to convert. Just substitute beef cubes for the seitan.