Happy Friday!

Shortly after I moved ‘up north’ to Normandy Isle in Miami Beach two years ago, I was introduced to the small but amazing Upper East Side farmers’ market at Legion’s Park run by the Urban Oasis Project. One of the best ways to get to know a place is to visit the local farmer’s market. Vendors are generally laid back and friendly and offer handmade, local and mostly organic products for sale as well as some vintage stuff (see my ‘new’ circa 1950s apron pictured right) and healthy, fresh-from-the-farm fruits and veggies. If you are not ready to go all in and sign up for a weekly or bi-monthly vegetable share from a CSA – Community Supported Agriculture, you can easily obtain your farm-fresh foods by shopping at the local farmer’s market.

Last month, a friend asked me why I wasn’t selling at the market. I have been making my organic skin care products for over a year now and just started packaging my signature plant-based dishes – e.g. Nutty ‘Bolognese’ Sauce, Herbed Nutty ‘Cheese’ and Creamy Cashew Soup – in mason jars for sale. Selling at the market sounded good but was I ready or even qualified to be a vendor? I filled out an application, was accepted and given a start date.

I did not expect it to happen so fast. I had a ‘holy s$it’ moment then proceeded to hustle to be ready on market day. Thanks to my besties, I was not alone. #lovemybesties

I have been a vendor three times so far and while it is a ton of work to prepare and show, it is a beautiful experience and cool to be on the inside, a ‘next level’ experience.

A farmer’s market is a space for community, a space where people come together to be themselves and share a piece of themselves with others. 

It was cool to find out that we vendors all have a personal story for being involved with the market and truly love what we create. When we come together at the market, we are co-creators of a positive, highly vibrational space and community. One fellow vendor, Robert, who was positioned under the tent beside me a couple Saturdays ago sells homemade Italian ice. He’s a hilarious no-nonsense New Yorker who told me that selling Italian ices had been his dream and he finally went after it. BAM! Right on. His truth and passion inspires me to keep living my dream.

While I took a couple weeks off from the market to teach a workshop and prepare for a new client I’m cooking for, I will be back both as a vendor and a patron, or more accurately a vendor/patron. I pretty much spend whatever I earn at the other stalls! Speaking of which, the green cabbage, onion and sweet potatoes used for the following recipe for Irish Stew all came from the farmer’s market this past Saturday.

st. paddy’s day irish stew

I created the below recipe at the request of the Maple Farm Sanctuary in Massachusetts. I am a volunteer writer for them. The Sanctuary was interested in a healthy, plant-based recipe for St. Paddy’s day to include in an upcoming article. While I have little to no Irish blood, I grew up around plenty of Irish people in Boston and appreciate the culture, the food and a Guinness now and again. I searched for recipes for traditional Irish stews and as expected, they were easy to convert to plant-based versions – just swap out the beef stock for vegetable broth and the meat for a meaty vegan alternative. This dish is traditionally made with mutton, which is the meat from older sheep (picture sad face with single tear emoji) but lamb (same emoji) is the popular meat used modern times. Let’s get real modern and ditch the animal parts for a food is kind to our bodies, kind to the environment and kind to the animals – Seitan! (picture smiley face emoji).

Here goes. While it sounds super involved, it’s not. The seitan is quick and easy to make and the rest is just cooking veg in a pot. The extra step to brown the seitan is optional so if this is your first time, just cook it all up and enjoy it without the extra step. If you make it, please let us know how it came out by leaving a comment below. Happy St. Paddy’s Day all!

Savory Irish Stew with Seitan

March 9, 2018

by Susie Belanger

Category Recipes

Ingredients

• SEITAN INGREDIENTS (for the stew ‘meat’)
• 1 cup walnuts
• 3 tablespoons oats
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast (Braggs is a good brand)
• 2/3 teaspoons onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 2/3 cup whole wheat or white flour
• 1 1/3 cup gluten flour (Bob’s Red Mill is a good brand)
• 1 1/3 cup cold water
• STEW INGREDIENTS
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 sprig thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon dried sage
• 4-5 carrots cut lengthwise and then into 2 inch pieces
• 1 medium green cabbage; chopped into 1.5-inch chunks
• 2 medium sweet potatoes or yams; cut into 1.5-inch pieces. Note, I prefer to scrub well and leave the skins on the potatoes since the skins contain some great nutrients.
• 2.5 - 3 cups of vegetable broth
• Salt and pepper to taste
• INGREDIENTS IF YOU WANT TO BROWN YOUR SEITAN (OPTIONAL STEP)
• 2 tablespoons ketchup or tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or agave
• 1 tablespoon of coconut amino acids or organic soy sauce
• dash of cayenne pepper
• 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil
• Nota Bene: Organic ingredients are always best if your budget allows. Also, consult the Dirty Dozen Clean 15 list to know which foods have less pesticides and can be purchased conventional rather than organic – https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-29241/what-fruits-veggies-have-the-most-pesticides-the-2017-dirty-dozen-list-is-here.html

Instructions

1. SEITAN INSTRUCTIONS
2. Blend the walnuts and oats in a food processor until fine. Transfer to a bowl.
3. Add the other seitan ingredients (except water) to the bowl and mix.
4. Add the water slowly and mix with clean hands until a uniform ball of dough forms.
5. Next form small balls or shapes of choice, which will be your ‘stew’ meat. Note that dough will expand to almost double the size once cooked in the stew so you should aim small as you shape into individual pieces. The seitan gets added to the stew to cook and mingle with the other ingredients.
6. STEW INSTRUCTIONS
7. In a heavy bottom pot, heat the coconut oil on medium-high.
8. Add the onions and cook until translucent – about 5 minutes.
9. Add the vegetable broth and mix in the spices. Then add the carrots, cabbage, seitan and top with the potatoes. The broth should be almost covering the potatoes but not completely. Be sure that the seitan is completely submerged in the broth.
10. Bring the stew to a boil and then simmer until the potatoes and carrots are cooked – about 30-45 minutes.
11. SEITAN BROWNING INSTRUCTIONS - Once the potatoes and carrots are cooked, you can serve your stew just like that. However, I like to take a further step to lightly fry the seitan so it has a browned look and texture to it.
12. Use a small strainer or slotted spoon to remove the now cooked seitan from the stew pot and set aside in a bowl. Mix the sauce ingredients (except coconut oil) together in a medium-sized bowl. Add the seitan to the sauce and mix well. Heat coconut oil in a frying pan and brown a few pieces of seitan at a time.
13. TO SERVE - Arrange each serving in a bowl with broth and a portion of potatoes, carrots, cabbage and seitan separated like in the photo. That was how I saw it done for the traditional Irish stews. Or throw it all in together. It's a stew. Who cares? It tastes good any way you serve it. Top with some fresh or dried thyme. Enjoy!

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