A good stew feels like a comforting hug, and warms you up from the inside. Ideal to eat in the cold winter months, but also great for when your body is recovery from pregnancy and delivery. The veggie stew recipe below was inspired by Heng Ou's C - Recovery Vegetable Stew, which can be found in one of my favorite books: The First Forty Days The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother.
It's important to note that this recipe is extremely adaptable, which is one of the reasons I love it. Add different proteins, veggies, or grains to make it your own!
Postpartum Health Benefits of Veggie Stew:
This stew contains TONS of vitamins, minerals, which your body needs to replenish after giving birth.
Provides protein by adding nuts, fish, chicken, lentils, or legumes.
Incorporates several immunity boosting ingredients such as ginger, reishi, garlic, and lemon.
Aids your digestion with the addition of kombu.
Helps with inflammation by including turmeric.
Process:
I typically start by making a veggie broth for my base, but you can use water, store bought veggie stock, chicken stock, or fish broth depending on your personal preference.
TIP: similar to saving bones in the freezer to be later used for bone broth, you can also save your veggie scraps for veggie stock! To make my stock I'll use 1-2 gallon bags of scraps, add in kombu, reishi mushroom, dried shitake mushroom, ginger, turmeric, and tomatoes. I'll either throw all of this into the slow cooker, or simmer on the stove until it's rich and flavorful. Then cool, strain, and freeze for later use.
Sauté chopped onion, carrot, and celery in a heavy pot with some ghee, coconut oil, or schmaltz until just soften. Season lightly with salt* and healthy amount of black pepper.
When the veggies have softened, add in potatoes, turnips, leeks, garlic, ginger, and spices. I like to use coriander, turmeric, cumin, and a bit of cinnamon. You could also use garam masala to create a very similar flavor profile.
Cook together, stirring occasionally, until softened.
Add in either chopped tomatoes or a large can of tomatoes, cremini or button mushrooms, cashews, a bay leaf, and cover with stock or water.
Bring this to a boil and cook for 10 minutes uncovered.
Add in grains if using: I would recommend farro or barley personally, but really it's up to you), and simmer covered for 30-40 minutes.
Add in one can of coconut milk and greens (kale, swiss chard, bok choy...) and continue to simmer on low for about 10 more minutes. Taste to make sure that everything is cooked to your liking and turn off the heat.
Finish with the juice of one lemon, a touch of salt, and divide into containers for freezing.
Serve yourself up a big bowl and enjoy! I add a little fresh parsley or cilantro, sea salt, and some homemade chili oil.
I hope you enjoy this postpartum veggie stew recipe, and feel free to ask any question you might have in the comments!
*I try to use very little salt when cooking for postpartum as it can increase your blood pressure, cause water retention, and is not ideal for breast feeding. You can always add salt to each portion later on.
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