Well folks, even though it’s Winter (here in the Northern Hemisphere) and almost Christmas, this is a great Fall stew! It works for Winter too though!
To make this stew we need farro, delicata squash, apple cider vinegar, kale, vegetable broth, butternut squash, shallots, an onion, parsley, butter beans (I added northern beans too because more beans are better!), thyme, garlic, whole wheat panko, pine nuts, and a turnip. The store was out of turnips when we went shopping for this dish so I decided to give a rutabega a shot! Rutabegas and turnips are both root vegetables. Rutabegas are usually yellow and brown, where turnips are white and purple, but they are both round! Rutabegas are usually larger and have a slightly bitter flavor, where turnips are sweet and earthy when cooked. Both rutabegas and turnips are high in fiber, low in calories, and are good sources of potassium, calcium, vitamin B6, and folate. Source: thespruceeats.com.
Mr. FBBQ was kind enough to smoke the garlic as opposed to me roasting it in the oven. It smelled delicious!!
I prepped some of the ingredients the night before I made this stew. That included peeling the squashes , dicing them, and steaming them for a bit to soften them up.
Peel and dice the rutabega. FYI, the rutabega smelled very potato-y. Boil the diced rutabega in some water to soften it up (just like the squashes).
I refrigerated the softened squash and rutabega overnight. The next day, I spread them out on 2 pans, doused them with a little apple cider vinegar, and tried to brown them in the oven. I should have sprayed the aluminum foil though. They started to stick so I took them out. I didn’t want them to be unusable.
Cook the farro. Set that aside.
Chop the onion and scallions and cook them in a pan until browned.
WHAT NOT TO DO:
Toast the panko and pine nuts in a small pan. DO NOT take your eyes off of them to wash dishes. They will burn. I was able to salvage some of this and it added a really nice crunch (and slightly charred flavor) to the stew. Unfortunately, I am a pro at burning things. Mr. FBBQ and his rice will strongly agree.
Remove the stems from the kale and tear it into small pieces. Add vegetable broth to a large pot, add the squash and rutabega, the beans (rinsed and drained), the cooked farro, the onion/shallot mix, and the kale. Sprinkle some thyme on it. Chop the garlic and add that as well.
Serve it in a bowl with some parsley (I put too much parsley on this-it was very strong and overtook a lot of the other flavors).
Add the (hopefully not charred) panko/pine nut mixture and enjoy!
