Big Steaming Bowl: Armenian Stew with Pilaf


armenianstew

This recipe is from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites: a hearty vegetarian stew with Mediterranean spices atop a bed of bulgur pilaf. It was nice and filling, and delicious for lunch the following day.

[donotprint]
Chris says:

So this *claims* to be an Armenian dish…

Lisa says:

We certainly never made this dish when I was growing up…

Chris says:

Though you guys really didn’t have many vegetarian meals, did you?

Lisa says:

True — but this is good. These are pretty big servings!

Chris says:

Well it’s all good stuff in there… a bunch of vegetables, beans, and spices!

Lisa says:

I love any meal that we can top with garlic-yogurt.

Chris says:

I’ll eat to that…

[/donotprint]

Armenian Stew with Pilaf
Stew:
2 tsp canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried mint
1 tsp dried basil
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp salt
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1″ chunks
1 small zucchini, cut into 1″ pieces
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
1/2 cup tomato juice
1 15-oz can drained fava beans
1 large bunch swiss chard, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Pilaf:
2 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup bulgur
2 cups water
1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

plain nonfat yogurt
1-2 cloves garlic, minced

Warm the oil in a dutch oven. Add the onions, garlic, mint, basil, bay leaf, and salt, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften. Add the carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, and tomato juice, cover, and simmer until all of the veggies are tender, about 7 minutes. Add the fava beans and Swiss chard, cover again, adn cook an additional 2 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice, add more salt to taste, cover, and remove from the heat. Discard the bay leaf.
Meanwhile, in a separate pan, warm the olive oil for the pilaf. Add the onions, garlic, and salt, cover, and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the bulgur and stir continuously for about 2 minutes. Pour in the water, sprinkle in the rosemary, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the bulgur is tender.
In a separate dish, mix the yogurt and minced garlic.
When the bulgur is almost ready, reheat the stew, then ladle onto a pile of pilaf, and garnish with yogurt.

4 Servings


3 responses to “Big Steaming Bowl: Armenian Stew with Pilaf”

  1. I just made this recipe last night out of the Moosewood cookbook, but with some substitutions that I would highly recommend. For a more northern twist, try winter squash and sweet potato for the zucchini and dill in place of mint and rosemary. It’s awesome.

  2. I made this last night. Ahhh,it was OK. I forgot to add the tomato juice until after, and also didn’t have the yogurt with it. It took so long to make! But maybe will taste better once the flavours have melded overnight. Not sure I’d make this again. Probably only if I got the veggies from the farmers market, and not my local No Frills.

Leave a Reply to [eatingclub] vancouver || js Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *