Super Bowl detox is now in effect. I won’t tempt you with my cheesecake bar recipe or my cheeseburger pie casserole this week. But one of our lovely commenters last week had a great idea: all day stew! This week we’ll look at a veggie-based stew that you can savor slowly and that will keep you full all day (sans chocolate).

Featured ingredients:

Acorn squash: This little bugger is loaded with Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamin A, and Vitamin C. Many studies suggest is also has anti-cancer properties, not to mention its rich texture and savory flavor make it seem way too tasty to be healthy.

Chickpeas: Sure, they taste amazing ground up as hummus, but chickpeas don’t have to be pulverized to be appreciated. They are loaded with protein and fiber while being low-fat.

You’ll need:

1 acorn squash
½ cup cooked chickpeas (canned will work best here)
1 white potato (or 2 or 3 red potatoes)
1 cup vegetable broth
1 carrot diced
1 celery stalk diced.
¼ TBS cumin
¼ TBS cinnamon

Recipe:

1. Before you do anything, you’ve got to roast your squash! Cut the acorn squash in half and remove seeds. Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees, or until soft to the touch. Set aside to cool.

2. Once cool, peel away the skin and put the acorn squash flesh into a blender (or food processor) with the vegetable broth. You may want to pour the vegetable broth in gradually to be able to gauge what consistency you want your base to be. (For a true stew, it should be pretty thick.)

3. Pour the squash into your pot or, if you’ve got one, a Crockpot. (Sidenote: These things are, like, $30 and every college girl’s best friend. Get one. It will change your life.) Dice up your potato, carrot, and celery and put that into the mix. Add your chickpeas and spices.

4. If you are cooking on a stove top, cook at medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the veggies have softened and your stew is simmering. Or,  if you are really dig slow food, cook in a Crockpot on very low heat for an afternoon, stirring every so often so that none of the veggies burn.

If it’s your thing, add some cooked poultry or beef to the mix. If not, it’s just as tasty on its own. When you’re ready, eat it up! This is the one dish that might be able to make everyone happy, and healthy!

So make this easy, delicious (vegetarian) recipe and cuddle up on your couch for a cozy evening in. Stay warm! Happy Autumn!

You’ll’s Be Needing:

6 cups of potaters (diced)

3 cans of vegetable broth

4 cups of whole milk

1/2 tsp of black pepper (ground)

1 cup of onion (chopped)

6 tbsp of butter (melted)

3 stalks of celery (diced)

4 cubes of vegetable bouillon

Here’s How’s Ya Does Its:

(1) Boil the potatoes, onion, and celery in two of the cups of vegetable broth. Cook for fifteen minutes.

(2) Drain the stuff but keep the liquid.

(3) Mix said liquid with the milk and put over medium heat. Stir until it’s thick.

(4) Separately, mix the flour and butter.

(5) Stir every single thing into the broth-and-milk mixture.

(6) Voila! Potato soupski!!

[Image courtesy of www.bbcgoodfood.com]

I don’t know about the weather where all of you are, but where I live, it’s still pretty freaking cold. While I would love nothing more than for spring to come, in the meantime I’m going to make the best of the ugly weather by having nice, hot meals!

Corn chowder is one of my favorite soup/stew hybrids, and I made a delicious two-person batch last week from a really simple recipe I modified. I guarantee it’s delicious, so give it a try!

Here’s what you need: about a tablespoon of butter, 1-2 slices of uncooked bacon, one small onion, one carrot, half a red bell pepper, about one cup of frozen (or canned, or fresh) corn, two cups of milk, chicken or vegetable broth (optional, and 1-2 cups if you use it), a bay leaf, one potato, a dash of salt, about ¼ teaspoon pepper, and about ¼ teaspoon thyme.

First, cook the bacon in a pan until it’s crisp.

While it’s cooking, chop up your onion, potato, carrot, and red bell pepper.

Set the crisp bacon on a paper towel to drain, and keep the grease in the pan. Add the chopped vegetables to the greasy pan.

Let them cook for 5-10 minutes, until they’re soft and beginning to brown. Then add the milk and the bay leaf.

At this point, you can also add vegetable or chicken broth if you want, but just milk is fine, too. I usually use about as much chicken broth as I do milk.

Let the soup come to a boil, then turn the heat down to low, cover the pan, and keep it simmering for 30 minutes. You may want to check it every so often to make sure all the liquid isn’t evaporating. If it is, just add more (milk, broth, or even water is fine).

After the 30 minutes have passed, add the salt, pepper, and thyme to the soup. Cover the pan again and simmer for 10-15 minutes. When it’s finished, it should look something like this:

And that’s it! Corn chowder for two in less than an hour, ready for you to share with a hot and low-maintenance man (or woman!) in your life.