It is late April as I write this. Spring has sprung, flowers are in full bloom, and Gary is tuning up the lawn mower. People are aerating their lawns, for some reason. Pasty white legs are in shorts and flip flops, even though it’s not quite yet that warm. Not in Colorado at least. We’re headed out of winter, and we’re starting to crave the fresh fruit and veg of summer. But folks, I’m here to stand in solidarity with a winter standard: Stew.
But…Fresh?
Hey, I love that summer fresh as much as the next guy. We keep a small vegetable and herb garden in our backyard for that exact purpose, but there’s no denying the power of stew.
You see, fresh = work. I love food so much, and as I’ve written before, I came quite close to making a career out it. I get a lot of joy out of making a meal from scratch, using fresh ingredients, and creating something. But ain’t nobody got time for that! Therein lies the beauty of stew.
Stew: Get Back Your Health and Your Time
Mrs. CC has become a stew machine. Every Sunday, she gathers her mise en place (that’s French for “stuff you are going to cook and your set-up for cooking it”), and begins the simple process of cooking a batch that will provide multiple meals for the week. It’s really simple, and requires about 45 minutes of your time.
You see, we’re all busy, or at least we convince ourselves we are. For many of us, we work a full-time job. When we get off work, we either have hobbies, baby bird children mouths to feed, or other chores. “What’s for dinner” gets kicked to the curb, and we grab something out.
Unfortunately, the choice to eat out usually kicks us in the gut in two ways: (1) it’s expensive and (2) it’s making us fat. Of course, Americans find time for an average of five hours per day of television or YouTube videos, but we’re too busy to cook a reasonable meal. We’ve touched on this concept before: cooking your own food is not deprivation.
The beauty of Mrs. CC’s Sunday stew is that it buys back our time in the busiest moments of the week. When I head straight to the gym for a mega-session after work, Mrs. CC doesn’t want to toil away over a hot stove while I hang with the homies. And of course, I don’t want to come stumbling in the door and have to fire up the grill either.
I’m Busy: Why Not Grab Something To-Go?
Eating out is generally not an option we’re willing to consider, unless it’s a special occasion. It’s a habit we’ve ingrained, and spending pennies on our own nutritional food is a core element of our existence. Not everyone is going to agree on this idea, but I maintain that this habit has been a crucial element for securing our finances AND (for me at least) cutting a LOT of weight. Here’s the story of how I lost nearly 100 pounds.
So instead of stressing over the time it will take to create a meal (and thereby not doing it), we open the fridge and pull out a container of pre-cooked stew. We throw that puppy in a sauté pan, put it over medium heat and add some pre-cooked brown rice or barley, and voila…dinner!
Put Money Back in Your Wallet
I’m going to first break down the pathetically low cost of making a stew. Below are some standard ingredients and their approximate costs (note that there are infinite variations). We get about 6 servings out of a single batch.
- Carrots: 4, chopped. $0.50
- Celery: 4 stalks, chopped. $0.50
- Onions: 2 small yellow, diced. $0.70
- Garlic: 4 cloves, minced. $0.15
- Sweet Potatoes: 2-3 medium potatoes, chopped in bite-size bits. $0.6
- Canned Whole Tomatoes: 1 large cans, crushed by hand with juice. $1.30
- Beans: 2 cans, drained. We mostly use red beans, white beans, or garbanzo. $1.40
- Meat (or sub tofu or lentils): If we’re cooking with meat, we usually go with ground turkey. $1.50 – $5.00
- Spices: Variable, but tend to use salt, pepper, New Mexico chili, or various curry powders. $0.25
- Olive Oil: 2-3 teaspoons. $0.30
- Love. This one is key – we’ll discuss more below.
You can see that the combined cost of this batch of stew is going to run about $6-$11, depending on if you go with or without meat. That’s $1.80 per serving on the high side. Not bad! This is why I cringe when someone tells me they’re getting a “cheap” $8 sandwich for lunch. Yikes!
Replacing 4 meals per week at a typical “eat out” cost of $10/meal, and you’re saving $32 per week or nearly $1700 per year (per person)! That’s just this change — think how many little financial inefficiencies are lurking below the surface.
We aren’t a food blog, so don’t look for Pinterest-worthy photos or detailed recipe tips. This is straight-forward stew. Carl Weathers gets it.
Step 1: Mise En Place
Remember that funny French term I used? Yeah, it sounds silly and pretentious, and maybe you think I’m trying to be cool by writing three words in French (arguably one of those words is English).
But really, if you ever go to a serious restaurant, there are serious and professional guys and girls in the back who live by this ethos. Mise en place is a general philosophy of order in a kitchen, and although it’s been more than a decade since I set foot in a professional kitchen, I still respect the concept of “everything in its right place.” It’s a good song, too.
Here’s the basic idea: have your vegetables cut, dirty dishes out of the way, towels at your side, salt, pepper, and oil at the ready, and a relatively clean working environment. You’re ready.
Step 2: Cook Your Stew
Begin by heating a healthy amount of olive oil (2-3 tablespoons) over medium-high heat. Once hot (but not smoking), add the meat. Stir minimally, and allow to brown, 5-10 minutes. Once the meat is browned on all sides, remove from heat and place in a bowl.
Immediately add a bit more olive oil to the pan (if the pan is dry), and toss in the onions, celery, and carrots. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Adjust the heat down as necessary. As the onions, celery, and carrots near completion, toss in the minced garlic.
Grab your crushed tomatoes and toss them in the pan. Use a wooden spatula to scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Hmmm yeah, get those bits! Add either water (good and free) or stock (better but not free — unless you made your own) and cover the contents in the pan. Bring to a boil over high heat.
Once boiling, toss in the chopped sweet potatoes. You may also now add the meat back to the pot. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered until the potatoes are soft, but not mush. No mush! Salt, pepper, and season with spices to taste.
With just a few minutes remaining, add the beans to warm. Preferably, once the stew is complete, remove from heat, put a lid on that puppy and let it sit for 30 minutes. This allows for the flavors to meld in a most wondrous way.
Serve with pre-cooked brown rice, or my personal favorite, barley. I also quite enjoy a pinch of pequin pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Bam! Feeling real crazy? Top with some fresh scallions. Double Bam!
Stir in the Love
Remember that key ingredient I mentioned? Yeah, it’s love. You think that dude at Chipotle is slapping beans on a tortilla with love? Probably not. But when you are making food for you and the ones you care about it, you can taste the difference. Think about food this way and you’ll hardly want to leave the house for a meal.
3. Eat Stew Repeatedly
This meal should generate 6 “real” servings, not those tiny USDA servings. That’s really the beauty here. By cooking a batch of food when you have more time (generally a weekend day), you (1) save a lot of money and (2) save a lot of time.
Want to get even sneakier? Make two or three batches at once and freeze them! You cheeky little devil!
Stew is just one example of many options. Honestly, this meal can be anything that is made in batch and doesn’t taste gross four days later. I’d avoid seafood salad for this one, lest you wish to spend some knee time around the toilet bowl.
Stew: In Summary
Don’t let those warming temperatures convince you that stew has no place in a spring and summer diet. This meal is fantastically simple, and is also great for road travel. If you have a rest day on the road, you can easily make a batch to have at the ready after a long day crushing the gnar. Lord knows, crushing the gnar really stirs the appetite.
What else is everyone eating in batch?