Brielle's Avalon

What, no meat!? Sure. It really does taste meaty. The secret is onions and wine…and maybe some Worcestershire sauce. The more you caramelize the onions the meatier it tastes…just don’t burn them! Well, unless you like the bitter notes that creates. It’s nice to have something in your repertoire  that even vegetarian friends can enjoy when invited over or at a pot luck.

Of course all of this will be available in abundance from your garden. Well, except the tofu and Worcestershire sauce and maybe some seasonings, but we do have to contribute to the greater economy somehow.

Olive oil for sauteing or bacon fat

1 Onion

1-3 Zucchinis (depending on size)

1-3 yellow crookneck squash (depending on size)

1c (or so) of red wine (OK, whatever you have, but red makes it richer and meatier)

1 package tofu, preferably silk but other kinds are fine

Worcestershire Sauce

1-3 Tomatoes (depending on size) or a couple handful of small ones, any colour.

Salt, Pepper, Basil, Garlic and any other seasoning that you think will taste good.

So, like so many other fabulous recipes, chop an onion and set it to saute in the bottom of a large pot. Salt a bit and let it go slow so it caramelizes. This gives you time to prepare the rest of the stuff. Ignore the pan in the back, it’s just the start of brownies (you can find that recipe in one of my earliest posts).

Chop and add the yellow squash. Again, the pan in the back is just brownies, this time the butter and melted chocolate are mixed.

Chop and add zucchini.

Add wine to loosen up the stew. Stir, scraping the good brown stuff off the bottom and sides. Yes, the wine is deglazing the pot (with your help) and adding all that wonderful flavour to the stew. Yes, it looks a bit dry but the squash gives up a lot of fluid as it cooks.

Add the tomatoes and any seasonings you like. If you need to now is the time to add water to make it as soupy or stew-y as you like.

If you’ve thought ahead you’ll have frozen and thawed the tofu to make it a bit firmer. If not, that’s OK. Open the package, add the liquid to the stew (or not, your choice). Then put the tofu on a plate and squeeze more liquid out, adding the liquid to the stew. Dice the tofu into small bite-sized chunks and sprinkle liberally with Worcestershire sauce. Fry lightly in a pan before adding to the stew.

It’s ready when the squash is tender, maybe 15-30 minutes, depending on how tender you want it. Serve as a side vegetable dish or a vegetarian main course with home baked bread. Tea is nice to wash it down, or maybe a glass of the wine you used in the recipe then cookies for later, or brownies are good, too. (Shameless plug inserted) You can find my recipe for brownies in my August 2010 post. Chocolate chip cookies would be my very 1st post in November 2009.