Comfy Cooking
Hands up if you had a busy week… I don’t know about you, but when I’m officially pooped it actually seems harder to go out for dinner than to pull a little something together at home. At least in my own kitchen I can cook in my jammies, and if I’ve been running around all day, getting in the car to go to dinner just feels like yet another errand – that I cannot do in my PJs. If you cook regularly, then chances are you have a few items rolling around in your crisper drawer or pantry, and a wise cook always has onion and garlic on hand, because if you put these all together it spells S-T-E-W. The hearty-ness of stew never leaves anyone wondering what the main course is, the way soup sometimes can. Another reason to “stew” is that there’s no reason why most plant-based versions can’t come together pretty quickly. jump to recipe
So, while in my slippers after a long day this week I came upon two ears of corn, and remembered that I’d wanted to make “Swan Song to Summer Corn Chowder.” I was also the fortunate recipient of a friends gorgeous freshly picked winter greens, however, which weren’t really corn chowder-y. Hmmm… I poked around in the freezer and found a little Italian sausage, and a vision began to arise.
It’s amazing how you can go from dead on your feet to all-fired-up to make stew. That bit of oomph that came from the vision of a great little stew allowed me to take two minutes to roast the corn over the gas flame, which in turn gave a little oomph to the stew.
I have long said that Italian sausage does all the work for you if you are seasoning-challenged or feel too worn out to cook. This particular sausage was “Field Roast” brand and definitely has that built-in flavoring that makes light work of any stew or pasta dish. That fullness of flavor also means that you don’t need to use much and there’s plenty of room for vegetables, which will give you more oomph in the morning!
When I see packages of “5-minute potatoes” at the grocery store I have to count to 10. This deception makes me a little nuts, to say nothing of the unnecessary cost or packaging of potatoes, of all things. Why on earth would we need to package a potato, and not for nothing – as New Yorker’s like to say – the words “packaging” conjoined with “produce” are what lead to listeria outbreaks.
OK, back to polite dinner conversation.
This, “ready – set – cook” approach to cooking does actually delight me, although I know not everyone enjoys it as much as I do. I will say that as I sat down to supper and took my first bite, I knew that nothing I could have had at a restaurant would have tasted as good. Cooking is high ranking self care/self love, and I could taste the love.
While I have an impressive collection of bowls from the “Empty Bowls Project,” on those nights when I’m stewing for dinner in my comfies, I prefer to enjoy it in my sweet old fashioned bowls. They match my jammies.
I used the "Field Roast" brand of sausage, and a mix of kale and beet greens, but any green will do. I did roast my corn, but you don’t have to, and you can even make this with 1 cup frozen corn if out of season. For thicker stew, mix together a Tbsp. each of butter and flour, and stir in for the last 5 minutes on the stove.
Ingredients
- 1 medium red onion, sliced
- 2 stalks celery, finely sliced
- 2 links Italian sausage, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- About 3 cups broth
- 2 ears corn, kernels removed
- 1 bunch kale, chopped
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast, optional
Instructions
- Heat a soup pot over medium-high. Add just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan, then add the onions and let brown slightly.
- Add the celery and let cook another minute.
- Add the sausage and let brown, then add the garlic and cook 30 seconds.
- Add the broth and stir up any brown bits from the bottom.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat, then add the corn and kale. Season with salt and add the paprika, then let simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the nutritional yeast, then taste and adjust seasoning. Thicken if desired, end enjoy
