Avast, Me Hearties! Thar Be Stew!!

Sadly, we forgot to talk like pirates on Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19th), but tonight, thanx to my cousin Tim, the Rosses ate like pirates.

You see, a few days ago, Tim shared a recipe for "Pirate Stew" with me and few others. It sounded so, so yummy. Now, the very first ingredient was ground beef, so, clearly, some adaptations would have to be made, but you know this boot-wearing, rough-talking pirate would never let a little detail like that stand between her and delicious piratey goodness :)

I intended to make it on Monday, I think. Then, I thought, "Okay, maybe Tuesday..." Did I mention the two parent meetings this week at my daughter's middle school? Yeah, well. There were those. And there was a dance class, which now takes place right at dinner time (convenient! Not.) Well, we ordered pizza one night, ate leftovers another, threw together a quick stir fry yet another. So, tonight, I was ready to actually cook something. Pirate Stew it is! ...sorta.

See, I didn't have a can of tomato sauce, or a can of potatoes, or a can of pinto beans. And I don't use worcestershire sauce, because the good kind is not vegetarian, and the vegetarian kind is not good. Yeah, I know, that's a matter of opinion. This is my blog, so you get my opinion. If you like worcestershire sauce, you go right ahead and use it. I also thought it would be a good idea to add a few carrots, and I was in a big hurry, so I didn't use a crockpot. Oh, and we like brown rice better than white. I also left out the spicy stuff, and Shane and I just added hot sauce. So.,. first, I will post a link to the original recipe (Thanx, Tim!):

http://www.ehow.com/how_2309291_make-pirate-stew.html?

You know what? Apparently, I don't know how to post a link. I amend my previous statement: I have posted an address that, should you paste it into your browser, ought to take you to the original recipe. Try it. I'll wait here.



*dum dee-dum dee-dum dee-dum dee-dum*



Oh. Are you back? Awesome. Hopefully it worked and you read it. Sounds super yummy, huh?

Now, I will tell you what I did:

In a soup pot, heat 1 TBS olive oil

Add one small onion, diced. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, stirring for a couple of minutes, until onion is translucent.

Add one package veggie burger crumbles and 1 tsp. Better Than Bouillion Vegetarian No Beef Base

Brown the veggie burger/onion mixture, stirring occasionally, while you prepare the following:

2-3 stalks of celery, diced
2-3 carrots, peeled and diced
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

Add the diced veggies to the pot and cook, stirring for about 10 minutes.

Stir in 1/4 cup dry brown rice, rinsed

Add 1 1/2 cups of your favourite spaghetti sauce, 1 1/2 cups water and the liquid from one can of black beans (reserve beans to be added later) and 1/4 tsp. chili powder.

Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30-35 minutes.

Check potatoes and rice for doneness. Add more liquid, if necessary and continue to cook until potatoes and rice are done.

Stir in black beans and cook just long enough to heat through. Turn off heat, taste and adjust seasonings.

We LOVED this. Shane requested that I add it to our list of "Dinners We Really Like." I will. I thought about adding peas and green beans, and I think that would have been good, too.

I would have photographed it, but we were too busy scarfing it up. Next time, I might add more veggies, and I will definitely make cornbread or biscuits to go with it (Shane is lobbying for cornbread, and i think I'm with him). Oh, BTW, I added a little hot sauce to mine, and I think it was perfect. For the record, I served this with roasted cauliflower and garlic, for which I will post a recipe at a later date. It was also positively delicious.

So that's it. Until next time ~ ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!