HEARTY PLANT BASED STEW WITH RED WINE

I love Instapot cooking. You can make it in the morning and let it sit on the keep warm function until you are ready to eat it. I used a 6 quart Instapot for this recipe.

Ingredients

1                         onion, chopped  

3 cloves              garlic, minced

1 cup                  dried, small mushrooms, rinsed

2                         carrots, cut in  large chucks

4-5 medium       potatoes, cut into large chucks

2 stalks              celery, diced

1 cup                 red wine,

1 1/2 cup           broth, I use mushroom broth

1  14 oz             can diced tomatoes

1  19 oz             can  black eyed peas, but any kind will do 

3-4 Tblsp          mushroom seasoning, use less if your broth is salted

1/2 tsp               smoked paprika

1/2 tsp               black pepper

1/4 cup              quick oats

Instructions

1.   Place everything but the oats into the Instapot and give it a good stir.

2.   Sprinkle the oats on top of the stew, but do not stir or you might get the burn notice while cooking.

3. Seal  and set Instapot to high pressure cooking for 6 minutes. Let pressure come down naturally. Stir in the oats. 

4. Adjust seasonings to your taste.

5. Enjoy!

VEGETABLE DOLMA ( STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES)

These vegetable dolma are easy to make, but do take a little time to prepare. This recipe uses about a half of a jar of grape leaves

Ingredients 

1                 onion, chopped, about 1 cup

2                 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup          mushrooms, diced finely

1 small       zucchini, diced finely

1/4 cup       parsley, chopped

1/4 cup       cilantro, chopped

1 tblsp        dill, chopped finely

1 cup          rice

1 1/2 tblsp  tomato paste

2 Tblsp       red pepper paste

1/4 cup       roasted walnuts, chopped

2 Tblsp       mushroom seasoning, or other bouillon powder of choice to taste

 1                lemon , juiced

1/2 tsp        black pepper

1 jar           grape leaves, rinsed and drained

2 cups        broth of choice for baking.

Instructions

1.  In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients, but the grape leaves and broth for baking. Mix well, ensuring that the tomato and pepper paste are well incorporated

2.  To assemble, lay a grape leaf shiny side down. Take about 1 Tblsp of the filling and place it near the base of the leaf. Starting at the bottom, fold the leaf over the filling, and then fold in the sides. Try and keep it tight. Continue rolling the dolma until it is rolled up like a burrito. Continue making all of the dolma until the filling is used up. 

3. Place the rolled dolma seam-side down in a small roasting pan. Stacking the dolma is okay. 

4. Pour the broth over the dolma until it comes up to the top of the dolma, but does not cover completely.

5.  Cover with a lid and bake at 350 F for 45-60 minutes.

6.  Enjoy.

NOTE

Some of my grape leaves were small, so I combined two leaves side by side or cut a leaf in half and used it to make a  bigger leaf by placing it across the bottom of a second leaf.