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If you’re on the hunt for vegan midweek meals that are quick and easy to make, don’t cost the earth, and are also packed full of nutrients, this kale, bean, and lemon stew could be just what you’re looking for.
The one-pot recipe is ready in just 30 minutes, and it’s also packed full of veggies. A stew is a warming dinner idea for the colder months, and is a great way to pack in vegetables and protein. While many stew recipes use meat, it’s easy to make plant-based stews with vegan protein sources. This one uses beans.
Beans are increasingly being regarded as an excellent source of vegan protein. They are significantly more environmentally-friendly than meat, and are also often cheap and readily available. For this recipe, which comes from vegan charity Viva!’s new cookbook, Everyone Can Cook Vegan, you can use butter beans, chickpeas, or cannellini beans.
Benefits of kale
This recipe also uses kale, which is widely regarded as a highly nutritious vegetable. Kale is part of the cruciferous vegetable family, and it’s closely related to broccoli, collard greens, and cauliflower.
Kale is particularly high in vitamin K, containing around 68 percent of your RDA per 21g serving (raw). It’s also a source of vitamin C, manganese, and vitamin A.
Bean, kale, and lemon stew recipe
Ingredients
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 3 medium carrots, diced or finely sliced
- 1 tsp sugar or syrup
- 1 400g/14½ oz tin chopped tomatoes
- 600 ml /2½ cups vegan stock
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 bay leaves
- 180 g /6½ oz kale leaves (stalks removed), sliced into 1cm strips
- 3 x 400g/14½ oz tins butter beans, chickpeas or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- Zest of half a lemon, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Optional toppings
- Drizzle of chilli or olive oil, fresh parsley, lemon wedges, nutritional yeast, vegan feta, vegan Parmesan, vegan plain yoghurt
Instructions
- In a large saucepan or wok, fry the onion in a little oil until lightly golden.
- Add the garlic, carrot, sugar, lemon zest, fennel seeds and chilli flakes and fry for a further couple of minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, vinegar and stock and simmer on a medium heat for 10 minutes.
- Pop in the kale, beans of your choice and lemon juice and simmer for a further 5-10 minutes.
- Taste the stew to make sure the carrots are soft then add salt, pepper and nutritional yeast, if required.
- Serve with any of the optional suggestions and enjoy.
Serving suggestions
- crusty bread, green salad, mashed potato, potato cakes or rostis, quinoa, rice, roasted or steamed vegetables, vegan feta, vegan plain yoghurt
This recipe was republished with permission from from Viva’s new cookbook, Everyone Can Cook Vegan. You can buy the book here.
