Welcome to Cheerfully Vegan’s main course dish for the Virtual Vegan Potluck! If you’ve started from the beginning of the potluck and are working your way through, you must have seen some amazing recipes by now. If you are jumping into the potluck for the first time using my blog as your entry point, then welcome to the program already in progress! 😀 Let me catch you up to speed (the rest of you can jump to the next paragraph.) V.V.P. is a marvelous online, twice-yearly get-together of 100 (give or take) vegan or vegan-friendly food bloggers around the world. Each blogger signs up for what kind of dish they will “bring” ~ and then on the set date, posts that recipe on their blog. We each link to the blog before and after ours (see the leaf links at the bottom of this page) so that you can start at any one point in the 100 blogs and just click to see the previous or the next entry. Pretty simple, huh? Let’s get started! For those of you who want to jump to the head of the table and start from the beginning, click on the leaf at the beginning of this paragraph.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled program….
When I was trying to decide what to bring to the potluck, I was torn. Do I make something showy and/or spectacular, or do I choose a simple dish that everybody will make time and time again? Since I was jumping into this at the last minute (somebody needed to bow out a couple of days ago and I was blessed to take their place) I really didn’t have a lot of time to hem and haw over the decision! Finally, I chose something that is a little of both. It is simple to prepare with a relatively short list of ingredients, but the flavor is spectacular ~ at least if you love garlic and spicy Tofurkey links it is! 😉
The great thing about this dish is that you can be as hands-on, or not, as you like. You can choose to cook the beans from scratch and grow your own greens to pick fresh (okay, okay…or pick them fresh from the display at the store), or you can pick up canned cannellini beans and frozen greens when you need supper on the table quickly.
My plan was to do something in between ~ canned beans and fresh kale from the market. Mmmm…not so much. By the time I got to the store late yesterday all of my favorite organic curly red kale was GONE! (Understand that this was more of a crisis in my mind for my morning smoothies than for the soup…*sniff*) I knew that the grocery store also carried a great substitute of frozen turnip greens with diced turnips (alas, not organic) that I had used in the past. Since I not only needed a picture or two for the blog as well as supper for the evening ~ and it was getting late ~ I opted for the frozen greens. Time had run out to dash to another store in the hopes that they still had some kale left.
I made a double batch of this last night and it is a good thing I did! My plan was to have enough leftovers for lunch for 2, or even 3 of us. It was so popular with the family that there is only a single serving left.
Tuscany Stew
- 2 T. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lg. onion
- 1 14-oz pkg. Tofurkey Italian “sausage” links, halved lengthwise and sliced (to decrease the intensity of the spicy flavor, only use half the package)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2-2 c. cannellini beans (or 1 can), rinsed and drained (you may substitute navy beans, but add them a few minutes before serving so that they don’t turn to mush)
- 2 c. water
- 2 T. chicken-style seasoning
- 1 pound greens, fresh or frozen – kale, turnip greens, spinach, etc. – chopped (remove any tough stems if you choose fresh greens)
- non-dairy grated Parmesan cheese for serving (optional)
In a very large frying pan or a Dutch oven*, saute the onion and Tofurkey pieces in olive oil on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the onion is softened and the Tofurkey is browned nicely. Add the garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute, stirring often to keep the garlic from browning and getting bitter. (If you prefer, you can skip the last step and just toss the garlic in at the next step instead.) Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer until the greens are cooked to your preference ~ I like mine very tender. Whether you chose fresh or frozen greens will affect the cooking time, too. You probably should plan on approximately 15-20 minutes. If you like a saucier stew, cover the pot. If you prefer less broth, cook with no lid, but stir often so that the greens at the top of the pot don’t dry out.
Serve with non-dairy Parmesan cheese and a tasty bread to soak up any extra broth.
Serves: 3-4 (which doesn’t include hungry teenage boys, by the way, which is why I have only one bowlful leftover today.)
*Note ~ I highly recommend a non-stick pan for this, or you’ll need extra oil to keep the links from sticking.
Girl, before I went vegan I loved sausage Tuscany stew, how did you know I needed a vegan remake and that I started making my own spicy italian vegan sausage?!? Incredible!!!
You make your own? How much work does it take? And – most importantly – does it use vital wheat gluten? I really need to stay away from wheat products, but these sing a siren song for me! lol Nothing else compares in some of my dishes. I’m glad my recipe met your needs! 😀
Dangit, yes I use vital wheat gluten, but I’ll let you know if I come up with a suitable substitute!
I figured probably you did. Nothing holds things together and gives the texture that vital wheat gluten does! 🙂 That’s why I keep using a few items occasionally. Thankfully, it doesn’t bother me tooooo much. 😀
I’ll bet we could find you a recipe that uses primarily tofu…. We’ll have to dream it up!
Hmmmm….that bears some consideration. I suppose if you could seriously marinate tofu in the right stuff and then freeze it, perhaps…. I’m a little behind the times here, because I haven’t actually experienced the texture of tofu once it’s been treated to an overnight stay in the freezer. Must have something to do with not planning that far ahead, or using up the tofu as fast as it comes into the house! 😀
I hear you, I freeze tofu sometimes and love how it turns out, but I’m usually too “pressed” for time 😉
LOL!!
Have you tried using TVP? I don’t believe that it has any what in it, and Bob’s Red Mill makes it in the same sized package as their wheat gluten. I haven’t cooked with it, but the texture when I’ve eaten it is very similar.
I use something a little healthier than TVP (no hexane used in it’s production) called Soy Curls. They have a great texture like the TVP, but you have to add the flavor. In the case of this stew, the links are a major part of the flavor. I’d have to come up with something bigger in the actual stew, I guess. But thanks for the idea! 🙂
I am a huge fan of those Tofurkey links and think they would be great in this style of soup. I can’t wait to make it for my Mom!
VERY yummy, Pix!!! I think this is on the menu for tomorrow!
You will love it! Of course, as garlicky as you like things, you might want to increase the number of cloves you use. 😀
This sure would hit the spot as it cools here in Minnesota. I’d love to participate in the potluck next year…how do you go about signing up?
You can check out http://www.virtualveganpotluck.com for all the details. 🙂 You can also follow them on Facebook for info all along the way.
Sweet. Thanks!
I’m seeing so many mouthwatering and comforting soups! Yours looks soooo tummy-satisfying with all my favorite suspects. Thank you for being a part of the Potluck!
I realized late, late last night that technically my stew was more of a soup than a main course…but by then it was too late! lol
Love this recipe, wow it looks so yummy. Happy VVP Day
I love a good stew, especially this time of year and this looks wonderful and easy to make! I wonder if it would freeze well? I cook for one so usually like to make a big pot of whatever and freeze some for future meals! Love.
Oh, I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t freeze well. Or you could cut the recipe in half. I know I freeze sliced/diced Tofurkey links all the time so that I can just pull them out at a moment’s notice.
Just making my way through the VVP & wanted to say hey 🙂
Yummy! 🙂
This looks amazing! Perfect for these freezing fall nights we’ve been having!
Pingback: Creamy Roasted Celery Soup and Vegan Cookbook Giveaway « Emmy Cooks
So glad you were able to join AND put together a fabulous dish!
Just heavenly! What a great soup!
This sounds delicious. You can’t go wrong with vegan sausage links in a soup!
What a hearty looking stoup! That’s whay Rachel Ray calls soup/stew blends. I think that applies here!
I’ve never heard of Tofurkey before but I guess it’s a kind of vegan sausage? I like the look of this, a lovely warming dish for a cold day.
Yes, Tofurkey makes a couple of kinds of vegan “sausages.” This Italian one and a Kielbasa, which I haven’t tried. They also make very good sandwich faux meats, as well as some holiday roasts.
Love this stew – looks fabulously good 🙂
Your decision for the potluck looks delicious!! Very hearty and delicious looking!
That looks so delicious! I didn’t know that Tofurkey made Italian “sausage” but I’ll have to give it a try! I love any soup with kale and beans… (Oh and I’m totally with you– I can understand how it feels like a crisis when all the kale is gone from the market! Your soup still looks super tasty with frozen greens though. : )
That vegan sausage surely looks like a great & tasty pork one. The whole dish looks very comforting & ooh so tasty too! A great entry for the VVP! I joined too & loved it!
Like Somer, I make my own sausage, but this recipe looks great with any sausage. And I love love love Italian food. pasta fagiole is what I was thinking about making next, but this soup very well may trump it! Thanks so much.
This looks great- although I’ll admit it’s easy to sell me on anything that includes tofurky italian sausage 🙂
Yeah…me, too! 😀
mmmmmmm frezing and hungry at the moment the thought of stew is getting me through!