Greek Stew

 

It seems like it's been a while since I've posted about a recipe. This isn't for a lack of food in my life (believe me!), but between traveling and family visits I haven't really had anything new going on in the kitchen. Enter tonight's meal of Greek Stew. This recipe was inspired by one I saw on Budget Bytes, a food blog that I frequently peruse for ideas. I modified the recipe a bit, partially due to available ingredients and partially because I was too lazy to actually reference the internet while shopping or cooking, but if you look at the original, it's not too different. This dinner got a big kiddo seal of approval (as in, let's eat this again tomorrow night), and was super easy to make, so a win-win.

First off, I sauteed a clove of garlic and a small onion in olive oil for a few minutes. Then I added a serving (one tin) of chopped wheat gluten as a chicken substitute, and a very generous amount of dried oregano. Next came a can of diced tomatoes, and a package of salad beans (soy, kidney, lima, and a mystery bean that I didn't look up before tossing the package, this was my Japanese substitute product for chickpeas), a splash of white wine, and about a 1/4 cup of water, plus sprinklings of basil and thyme, salt and pepper. I let it simmer on low heat for about half an hour while the rice and stock cooked away in the rice cooker. I served it with fresh parsley, cubes of feta (so expensive here, but totally worth it!), and a side of Greek olives. For a bigger meal or a dinner party it would be great with sides of pita and grilled veggies like eggplant or red peppers, a cucumber salad, or perhaps a veggie dip appetizer. Yum!