Onions are one of many flavorful ingredients to add to vegetable stews.
Although bland vegetable stew is a relatively inexpensive and simple meal, it doesn't taste very good. If your soup tastes more like water than like a delicious meal, add one or more ingredients to spice it up and give it more flavor. Whether your bland stew is homemade or came from a can, you can add aromatic vegetables, such as onion, celery and carrots, and a variety of herbs, spices and seasonings to develop flavor. Add this to my Recipe Box.
Instructions
Aromatic Vegetables
1. Chop a yellow or red onion into small pieces. You can add about 1/2 cup of onion to each quart of stew. Set the onion aside for now.
2. Chop one or two ribs of celery per quart of stew and set it aside with the onion.
3. Chop one medium carrot into a small dice for each quart of stew. Set it aside as well.
4. Mince one to two cloves of garlic per quart of stew. Leave these on the cutting board.
5. Put 2 tbsp. butter in a frying pan and set it on a burner over medium-high heat until the butter melts.
6. Add the onions, celery and carrots to the frying pan. Stir them gently every couple of minutes until they have softened, which usually takes about 5 to 10 minutes.
7. Add the garlic and cook another two to three minutes.
8. Mix the vegetables into your stew. These vegetables, often referred to as aromatics, add a significant amount of flavor.
Herbs and Spices
9. Add salt and pepper to taste. Be careful when adding these, especially salt, because too much can ruin the stew.
10. Add crushed red pepper if you would like to literally spice up the stew. The pepper releases more of its flavor as you simmer it with the stew, so start with just 1 tsp. per quart of stew and add more later if needed.
11. Add fresh herbs for a more subtle flavor. Chop basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme or any other types of herbs you have on hand. Sprinkle these over the stew just before serving.
Tags: quart stew, celery carrots, each quart, each quart stew, into small