vegetable stew Archives ⋆ Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby

20-minute hearty bean and vegetable soup in an instant pot

Chris-budgetpantry — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 15:25:53 +0000

Yup, this amazing soup is cooked in 20 minutes in my Philips All-in-One cooker, my current obsession. I can cook everything in it!! I love the saute function, and I always saute or brown my ingredients before using the ‘pressure cook’ mode. I save more than half the time using this as compared to using a traditional stove-top pot. Just yesterday, I cooked oyster sauce chicken with carrot and potatoes in 15 minutes. The meat was fall-off-the-bone! What a life-saver this is. I did a short introduction to the all-in-one cooker recently. Click here to read.

Back to the recipe. This is a super versatile soup/stew which I like to make in a large batch and freeze.

The thing I love about this recipe is that it can completely be customised. Although I meal-prep, I don’t have to eat the same meal every day. I can jazz up this dish every day with different ingredients – an egg today, some fish slices tomorrow, or a handful of cabbage the next. These pictures show the creamy soup version. I use my hand-held blender to blend the vegetables into this consistency at the end of cooking. If you prefer a chunkier soup, you don’t have to blend the entire pot. Maybe half the pot or a bit more?

It’s hard to believe, but ALL of these ingredients are blended into the soup:

I didn’t use flour to thicken the soup because there’s no need to. The potatoes and beans are starchy enough to make this really creamy and satisfying.

I’m gonna let you in on my secret ingredient: I add a tablespoon of garlic/ginger paste into this. Yes the Hainanese Chicken Rice paste. I choose one without preservatives, but to be honest, one tablespoon in a giant pot of goodness won’t kill you. You can use any brand from any supermarket. I think it really adds oomph to this dish! Alternatively, you can use grated ginger.

Ready to give this one-pot wonder a try? Let’s go!

Tip: Click here to see my other baby food recipes. Will be adding more soon :) Like my Facebook page or follow @budgetpantry or @chuabeebee on Instagram to be updated on new recipes!

20-minute hearty bean and vegetable soup in an instant pot (budgetpantry.com)
Serves 6

What you need:
6-8 stalks celery
1 large carrot
1 large yellow onion
1 yellow pepper
1 russet potato
2 stalks leek
1 round eggplant
1 can peeled or diced tomatoes
1 can beans (you can use kidney beans/black beans/white beans,etc)
2 handfuls red lentils
1 tablespoon garlic ginger paste or grated ginger
1 teaspoon cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
200ml water
2 tablespoons oil
Shredded cheese, optional (for garnish)

Steps:

Peel and dice the celery, carrot, onion, pepper, potato, leek and eggplant.

If using an instant pot or all-in-one cooker:
1. Select the ‘Saute’ option.
2. Wait for the pot to heat up and add the oil. Toss in the white part of the leek, garlic ginger paste or ginger, onion and pepper for 5 minutes.
3. Add the celery and saute everything together for 10 minutes. Follow with the potato, eggplant, carrots, green part of the leek, tomatoes, beans, lentils, cajun seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, salt and water.
4. Seal the pot and select ‘Pressure Cook’ for 20 minutes.
5. Once the pressure is released, wait for the stew to cool down before blending with a hand blender to the consistency you like.

If using a regular pot over the stove:
Follow steps 2 and 3 above. Add water until it just about covers all ingredients. Simmer, half covered for 1 hour. Watch the pot and top up water if needed. Once cooled, use a hand blender to blend into the consistency you like.

Garnish with shredded cheese and serve with a crusty bread roll.

TIP: You can use this as pasta sauce too!

The post 20-minute hearty bean and vegetable soup in an instant pot appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

Almost low carb lunch idea: Chili Stew

Chris-budgetpantry — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 14:46:13 +0000

I pack lunches to work on weekdays and plan my weekly menu the previous week, the same time as I order fruits, vegetables, fish and meat online. As I add items to my cart, I think of what to cook for lunch and dinner, and when to cook what, i.e., I use up the more perishable stuff, like salads, for breakfasts or lunches on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and cook the iron-rich leafy greens (spinach, puay leng, cai xin) in soups for early-week dinners. I then leave cabbages, kale, broccoli and cauliflower for the later part of the week, to be used in colourful stir fries. I normally plan daily meals, but sometimes, all I want to do is cook a big pot of chili stew.

I love cooking stews because you just cook everything in a pot, leave it to simmer, and your lunch or dinner (for the next few days) are ready. I cook a few versions, including creamy chicken stews with potatoes and carrots, and tomato-based vegetable stews. And this one, ground meat stew with vegetables and kidney beans, topped with cheddar. This CAN BE low carb – just leave out the kidney beans. I used pork, but please use ground beef for the best flavour.

I often cook this on Sundays so we can have it for Sunday dinner and I have lunches ready for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I think three days is the max you can keep this in the fridge. And in case you haven’t realised, I can eat the same stuff for days on end, as long as I’m in my health nut mode and the food is good for me. For this recipe, I used red onions, celery and tomatoes as my base. I love stewed celery.. isn’t it funny how celery tastes awful raw (to me at least!), but when slow cooked in a stew, it breaks down to be one of the most delicious things ever, like a cross between radish and onion? I also added cabbage, bell peppers and canned tomatoes, along with ground meat and stock (use beef stock if you can), plus kidney beans towards the end.

Chili doesn’t normally use this much vegetables, focusing instead on the meat and onions. But too much meat isn’t my thing and cabbage fills you up plus lends a sweetness to the stew.

The best way to eat this is with some shredded cheddar (I used cheddar singles as I didn’t have the grated ones, and that’s ok – and cheaper) and sour cream. I didn’t have sour cream (full fat FTW) so I left it out. For some colour, I topped the stew with hand-shredded spring onions. Not essential, but quite good.

With assignments at work leaving me with no time to think (this is a busy time for me and all I want to do after work is clear my brain but I end up catching up on news – especially electoral news nowadays – online), I think chili stew will be my answer to packed lunches for the coming week! Like gumbo, I know every family has their favourite version of chili. Please share yours with me!

Almost low carb Chili Stew (budgetpantry.com)

Serves: 6-8
Total cost per serving: $2.03

What you need:

2 medium purple onions, diced
2 bell peppers (any colour), diced
5-6 stalks celery, diced
¾ to 1 small Beijing cabbage, chopped (depending on the size of your pot)
300 g ground meat (pork or beef, preferably beef)
2 fresh tomatoes, diced
1 can ripe tomatoes
1 can kidney beans
2 bayleaves
200 g bacon, diced (optional)
Enough beef/chicken stock to cover all the ingredients
2 tablespoons Olive oil
Grated cheddar and sour cream to serve

Steps:

In a large pot, heat up the olive oil and fry the bacon (if using), onions, bell peppers and celery til starting to turn soft.

Make a hole in the centre and add the ground meat. Break it up as much as you can with your spatula or wooden spoon. When the meat changes colour, top with cabbage, followed by canned and fresh tomatoes. Cook til it comes together. Stir occasionally.

Fill pot with beef or chicken stock. Bring to boil then turn down the flame. Add the kidney beans and let the stew simmer for 25-30 minutes til thick.

Serve with cheddar cheese and sour cream.

How much I spent:

$0.60 for onions
$2 for bell peppers
$1 for celery
$1.20 for cabbage
$2.95 for ground meat
$0.60 for tomatoes
$1.55 for canned tomatoes
$2.45 for kidney beans
$3.95 for bacon
Everything else from my pantry

The post Almost low carb lunch idea: Chili Stew appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

White Stew with rice

Chris-budgetpantry — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 04:22:27 +0000

I love cooking white stew because I am a fan of creamy gravy with rice. I usually do a chicken and vegetable version on cold nights- it is so comforting and warms our tummies. I like to let my family scoop their own serving of stew.. for some reason they think it is fun (the same way they like to assemble their own laksa) and this way, they can be sure that they get a piping hot meal (the stew comes straight off the stove!) and the rice won’t get soggy because they eat it immediately. Have a computer-game or technology addict kid or husband at home who just wouldn’t leave their rooms at meal times? You’ll get what I mean, although I am sometimes inclined to let him eat soggy rice because SERVES YOU RIGHT for ignoring me when I tell you dinner’s ready.

Anyway. I read about the addition of tuna from Nami’s site and just knew that I had to try it. According to her, the tuna adds an extra savoury flavour and I thought, why not? I was already cooking my white stew with carnation milk instead of whipping cream to lower the dairy and fat.. I could do with a richer sauce!

White Stew
Makes 4-6 servings. Total cost per serving: $2.31

What I used:
5 strips chicken fillet, sliced into bite-sized pieces
Half a broccoli, cut into smaller florets
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
6 shitake mushrooms, sliced
1/3 medium eggplant, cut into bite size pieces (optional)
10 prawns
1 can tuna in oil, drain 90% of oil
125ml carnation milk
750ml milk
1 large yellow onion, sliced
30g all purpose flour (about two tablespoons)
2 tablespoons butter
1 vegetable stock cube (optional)
Salt and black pepper

Steps:
1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. I used about 1 level teaspoon salt and black pepper.
2. Saute the onions in butter til transparent then add in the chicken.
3. Add in the flour when chicken is cooked and stir to mix well. Slowly stir in milk and be sure to scrape the pan as the flour will burn.
4. Add the carrots, potatoes, tuna and vegetable cube. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
5. Add the broccoli and carnation milk. Cook for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle more black pepper before serving with rice or crusty bread.

How much I spent:
$2 for chicken fillet
$2.50 for prawns
$1 for broccoli
$0.50 for potatoes
$0.30 for onion
$0.30 for carrot
$1.85 for tuna
$0.80 for mushrooms
$0.70 for carnation milk
$1.60 for UHT full cream milk
Everything else from my pantry

The list of ingredients make it seem like a lot of work, but it is just really about chopping them up before hand. Most of the work gets done in a single pan so you get very little clean up which is major plus for me. If you prefer a richer flavour, you may use heavy whipping cream in place of carnation milk. For variation, add corn kernels or peas if that’s your thing. I liked the addition of tuna and will make this again!

The post White Stew with rice appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.