Taking inspiration from Rae’s butternut squash spaghetti sauce, I made veggie stew this weekend.
What went into it (this was all eyeballed, btw):
1 butternut squash
3 summer-type squash (squashes?). I did one each zucchinni, yellow squash, and the green stripy ones
Half a bag of baby spuds
1 sweet potato
1 bell pepper
Half a large onion
A few cloves of garlic
A can of beans
A can of tomatoes
Oregano, thyme, tarragon, rosemary and nutmeg (I didn’t measure – maybe 1/4 tsp each? half? Somewhere in that range)
I cut open the butternut to remove the seeds, brushed it with oil, sprinkled with salt, and baked it at 350F for about half an hour. I just meant to par-bake it at this point. After letting it cool enough to handle, I pared off the peel and then chopped it into bite-sized pieces.
I diced the onion and sauteéd it in a bit of butter until it was soft, then added half the butternut squash and let it brown. A few minutes before it was done, I added a few whole cloves of garlic. Once it had a nice bit of colour, I added the herbs and spices and let them bloom, then added enough vegetable stock to come about halfway up the squash pieces. Then I let it cook until the squash was soft and most of the stock was gone. I put it in a bowl and blitzed it with the hand blender (I’d have done this in the slow cooker bowl, but it has a non-stick finish, and my stick blender is metal).
While the squash was cooking, I cleaned and cut up the rest of the veggies (except the potatoes, they were small enough to leave whole) and dumped them all into the slow cooker. I added a bit of vegetable stock and then poured the squash pureé over the top and turned on the cooker.
About ten minutes before I was ready to eat, I opened the cans of tomatoes and beans and rinsed them off, then dumped them into the pot and stirred them in.
As is always the case when I make stew, there’s enough for at least six meals, probably more (I’ve yet to figure out how to cook for one, so I just don’t bother. My freezer sees a lot of use. LOL)
ETA: I added a spoonful of sour cream to the second day’s bowlful, and that made it extra yum.