Meatless Monday with Chickpea and Winter Vegetable Stew

Hello and welcome (back) to the Miratel blog for the latest installment of our Meatless Monday recipe share. The Meatless Monday pledge aims to reduce meat consumption 15% by eliminating it one day per week to preserve planetary health. Miratel has taken the pledge to support this great initiative, which we include as part of our CSR business strategies to spread awareness of the impact of food choices on our environment.

Joining the Meatless Monday movement is also a great way to help keep your new year’s resolution to be healthier and more eco-conscious in 2013. To aid you in making this switch, we feature a new vegan or vegetarian recipe every Monday. Our recipe today is for a hearty flavour packed chickpea and winter vegetable stew. This vegan recipe comes via My Recipes and proves that a meat-free dish can be satisfying and filling even on a cold winter night. Now, let’s get cooking.

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup (1/2-inch) slices leek
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds, crushed
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 2/3 cups Simple Vegetable Stock, divided
• 2 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash
• 1 cup (1/2-inch) slices carrot
• 3/4 cup (1-inch) cubed peeled Yukon gold potato
• 1 tablespoon harissa
• 1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound turnips, peeled and each cut into 8 wedges (about 2 medium)
• 1 (15 1/2-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 1/2 teaspoons honey
• 1 1/3 cups uncooked couscous
• 8 lemon wedges

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and leek; sauté 5 minutes. Add coriander and next 4 ingredients (through garlic); cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add 3 cups Simple Vegetable Stock and the next 8 ingredients (through chickpeas); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes. Stir in parsley and honey.
2. Remove 2/3 cup hot cooking liquid from squash mixture. Place cooking liquid and remaining 2/3 cup stock in a medium bowl. Stir in couscous. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Serve with lemon wedges.

This recipe will yield about eight portions: “serving size: 3/4 cup squash mixture, 1/2 cup couscous, and 1 lemon wedge.” Feel free to swap out the couscous and substitute with your preferred whole grain. To complete this offering serve with a green salad and some crustini brushed with olive oil.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday website and join us in taking the Meatless Monday pledge today. Spread the word at home and at work and promote CSR business initiatives to make your green call centre, office, factory, shop, restaurant or salon even greener.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.