Summer Vegetable Stew ♥ Recipe

Summer Vegetable Stew ♥ AVeggieVenture.com, a soupy stew made with fresh vegetables, a great master recipe and a rainbow of summer vegetables, full of different flavors and colors and textures. Weight Watchers Friendly. Vegan. Gluten Free. Paleo.
Hello, summer! Hello, vegetable lovers! Here's a soupy stew packed with a rainbow of fresh vegetables and full of different flavors and colors and textures. This is a great master recipe for a vegan vegetable stew, packed with easy-to-find and inexpensive fresh vegetables. It's one of A Veggie Venture's top summer recipes – and one of mine too, for almost two decades!

Fresh Vegetables, Healthy & Seasonal. A Summer Classic Since 2005. Supper Substantial. Budget Friendly. Great for Meal Prep. Low Cal. Low Carb. Low Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real. Naturally Gluten Free. Whole30 Friendly. Rave Reviews. One of My Very Favorite Late-Summer Recipes. Happiness Quotient 100.


Almost Twenty Years of Lessons-Learned for Summer Vegetable Stew

Lesson #1 It pays to make something called Summer Vegetable Stew at the height of summer (duh!) when gardens and farmers markets and even grocery-store produce bins are overflowing with a cornucopia of fresh, seasonal vegetables.

Lesson #2 While I've streamlined this "soupy stew" recipe to put it on the table in 40 minutes – I've also learned that the stew's flavors really meld overnight so now I make it one day to serve the next.

Lesson #3 Make it your own! This is a master recipe for a summery vegetable stew, one that moves and adjusts based on what's available or tastes good, lima beans, fresh okra and tiny new potatoes would be great additions. In a recent pot, I threw in some cabbage but oops, forgot the eggplant, still so-so good.

Lesson #4 The only essential ingredient are the tomatoes and even then, not just any tomatoes but very ripe, very juicy, late-summer tomatoes. If you've only got hothouse tomatoes, make something else. If your tomatoes aren't quite ripe, wait until they ripen. If your tomatoes are meaty like Romas, know that juicy tomatoes provide the cooking liquid for this stew so you'll need to compensate with a little water, not too much.

Lesson #5 But really, just get out a sharp knife and revel in the color and architecture of vegetables that appear, magically, from dirt with a lot of help from sun, water and the human beings who make it all happen so that all that's left for us to add is a little chop-chop time.

Lesson #6 Salt! Salt! Salt! Every time you add a new vegetable, sprinkle the pot with a big pinch of salt. Near the end of the cooking time, after the vinegar and Tabasco have been added, taste again for salt and do not be shy when more salt is needed. There are a t-o-n of vegetables here, they'll just taste flat without salt.

Lesson #7 And then feast. Because really, isn't that what the moons tell us, that it's time to fill our bellies to gird for the scarcity that will follow ...

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"It was wonderful, and the leftovers were even better last night." ~ Kathy G

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Summer Vegetable Stew ♥ AVeggieVenture.com, a soupy stew made with fresh vegetables, a great master recipe and a rainbow of summer vegetables, full of different flavors and colors and textures. Weight Watchers Friendly. Vegan. Gluten Free. Paleo.

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RECIPE for SUMMER VEGETABLE STEW

Active time: 35 minutes
Time to table: 40 minutes
Makes a bunch, 9 cups

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
2 bell peppers, green, red or yellow or a mixture, diced in large chunks
1 pound eggplant, skin on, trimmed and cut into 1" cubes
1 yellow squash or zucchini, trimmed & diced
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed & snapped in bite-size lengths
A scant 2 pounds (about 3 medium) perfectly ripe tomatoes, cut in pieces
2 ears corn, kernels removed and "milked"
1 teaspoon dried oregano, ground between fingers before adding
Salt & pepper
1 tablespoon good vinegar (don't skip)
Tabasco (just a few drops)

Heat a Dutch oven or large kettle over MEDIUM HIGH. Add the olive oil and heat until shimmery. Add the onion (and a good sprinkle of salt!), stirring to coat with fat, then sauté for about 5 minutes until just soft. Add the garlic and peppers (and a good sprinkle of salt!), sauté for about another 5 minutes. Add the eggplant (and a good sprinkle of salt!), cook about another 5 minutes. Add the squash, beans, and any other vegetables (and a good sprinkle of salt!) and let cook for about 5 minutes. Finally, add the tomato, corn, oregano (and a good sprinkle of salt!) and season to taste.

Reduce heat to MEDIUM, cover and let cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are done but still crisp-tender. Stir in the vinegar and Tabasco, then adjust seasoning to taste but don't be shy with salt.

TO SERVE Serve immediately or better yet, refrigerate for 24 hours. I love this served cold, with a spoonful of yogurt or a splash of cream!

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
TIMING I just add vegetables as they're prepped, no mise en place. But if you're a slow chopper, you might want to cut up the vegetables through the eggplant before beginning to cook. Either way, manage the stove temperature, you don't want any of the vegetables to brown or burn or turn mushy.
OIL On occasion, I've made this with no added oil, it works and still tastes great, just start with a splash of water or vegetable stock, then add more if the vegetables start to stick as they cook. That said, I really learned the value of oil for flavor with this master soup recipe, Master Recipe: How to Make Homemade Vegetable Soup.
MILD FLAVOR The flavor is mild, the texture soft. For a bit of heat, add Tabasco or red pepper flakes after cooking. For a bit of crunch, add at least some of the bell pepper after cooking.
HERBS Crumbled dried herbs between your fingers before adding. Your fingers will smell good and the herb's essence will be more pronounced.
WEIGHT WATCHERS This recipe gets deserved attention from Weight Watchers fans!
EGGPLANT If you worry about bitterness in eggplant, this technique from the inspiring recipe can be used before starting the cooking. "Cut the eggplant in cubes, leaving the skin on. Transfer to colander in several batches, sprinkling each batch liberally with salt. Let drain one hour. (Don't rinse away the salt.)" That said, I find this technique unnecessary and never ever use it.
CORN Much of the flavor from fresh corn is in its "milk". Remove the husk and silk, then, holding the ear upright inside a bowl, slice off the kernels with a knife. Then run the side of the knife along the cob top to bottom, "milking" the corn juice into the bowl. Here are step-by-step photos, How to Cut Corn Off the Cob, Keeping All Ten Fingers, Capturing Every Delicious Kernel and Every Drop of Sweet Corn "Milk".

SERVING SUGGESTIONS
First Night, serve hot or room temperature – straight from the pot, with a splash of vinegar if at room temperature.
Second Night, on a pizza – Roll out refrigerated pizza dough, top with Summer Vegetable Stew, add other toppings as culinary creativity inspires!
Other – Along with cottage cheese, other vegetables, serve on lettuce or spinach for lunch or light supper.

FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more. If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.aveggieventure.com/2005/05/day-35-summer-vegetable-stew.html .

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Seasonal Eating During the Height of Summer Across the Years

Eggplant, Tomato & Mozzarella Sandwiches Southern Farm-Stand Stew < this week's healthy favorite! Fresh Tomato with Fresh Mozzarella Artichoke & Pepper Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Zucchini Timbale with Cheese (Crustless Zucchini Cheese Pie) Spring & Summer Sliced Salad What Is This Pan? Asian Carrot & Sesame Salad Jicama Slaw Cucumbers in Vinegar Zucchini Carpaccio Cowboy Coleslaw Farro with Beet Greens How to Keep Fresh Vegetables Fresh Longer Raw Eggplant Salad Tossed Caprese Salad Falling In Love with Green Beans: Favorite Recipes Creamy Feta Mousse with Greek Salads < just gorgeous! Crustless Quiche with Greens & Garden Vegetables Vegetables 101: What Is a Tomatillo? Black Bean & Corn Salad Chilled Zucchini Noodle Salad with Pesto, Sweet Corn & Sun-Dried Tomato Cauliflower Steaks with Warm Corn & Poblano Salsa Cucumber Smoothies Summer Green Bean Salad with Corn & Pickled Onion




Looking for healthy new ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of super-organized quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous Asparagus-to-Zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables. Join "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg to explore the exciting world of common and not-so-common vegetables where recipes range from seasonal to staples, savory to sweet, salads to sides, soups to supper, simple to special.

© Copyright Kitchen Parade
2005, 2010 (repub), 2014. 2019 (repub), 2020 & 2023

Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments

  1. Corn isn't a zero-point vegetable, so it would have to be left out for someone trying for a zero-point soup/stew.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Kirsten, I suppose all Weight Watchers followers find their way of interpreting the point system. Even a brownie, in small enough portion, could have zero points. Even the zero-point soup actually calculates at 1 point, even though it contains only zero-point vegetables, a big bowl would be even more.

    My own take is very straight forward: I weigh/measure the ingredients, divide by the number of servings (and I'm very consistent about portion sizes), calculate the points. In this case, there's only two ears of corn, so about 1 cup of corn (I've learned, I do measure) and it's divided into 18 half-cup portions -- hence, zero points.

    Still, if you prefer to omit the corn, do so!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the vibrant colors of this stew!

    ReplyDelete
  4. In the printer friendly recipe could you put the nutrition stuff at the end for those of us who don't give a da-- and want to print just one page

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Anonymous ~ I sure can, thank you for the suggestion. In fact, I've just changed the layout template to place the nutrition information at the bottom of all new recipes.

    Unfortunately, going backward to change all the current recipes would be a huge and entirely manual effort. I hope you understand why I'm going to choose not to do that!

    ReplyDelete
  6. If people don't want the nutrition info they can just copy the text they do want into a Word document.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This looks delicious! Do you think it could be frozen? Any tips on doing so? Thanks! please email me ncb1981@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. NIcole ~ So yes, I think it would freeze okay. But it also lasts a week or more in the fridge. (Says the cook who knows that once something goes in the freezer it’s likely lost and gone forever.)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hubby made the Summer Vegetable Stew for dinner on Sunday. It was wonderful, and the leftovers were even better last night. I suspect we'll be revisiting these menus again.

    ReplyDelete

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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe, whether a current recipe or a long-ago favorite. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. ~ Alanna