Hearty Vegetable Stew

Tonight's Hearty Vegetable Stew was perfect given the recent snow and frigid temperatures outside.  We also bought a loaf of fresh bread to dunk in the stew for extra comfort.
 

Dipping the bread was SO good.

Recipe:
Hearty Vegetable Stew

• 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 4 medium-sized potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces 
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon marjoram
• 1 teaspoon tarragon
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1.5 tablespoons barbecue sauce or 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika 
• salt, to taste

Combine all ingredients (except salt) in a large soup pot.  Cover and bring to a boil over high heat.  Then lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove the bay leaves, salt to taste, and serve with bread for dunking.  

Yields about 6 servings.

Comments:

Taste:      

The stew was good but not great.  It had a pretty starchy taste (lots of potatoes), so I would add more vegetables and one fewer potato next time.  It needs something green--maybe peas or kale? 

Accessibility:        

We only needed to go out and buy a few ingredients for this dish.  Thank you, stew, for a low grocery bill this week.     

 Ease of Preparation:   

This was extremely easy to prepare.  It's a great one-pot meal.       

Non-vegan friendliness:   

Simon noted that this dish lacks the varied texture that beef or some other meat would add to a stew.  I thought serving the stew with crusted bread added a nice crunch to the meal, but I do think a meat-enthusiast might miss it in this meal.