Are you suffering from post-holiday food hangover? This Christmas, I didn’t eat as much junk food as I usually do, but I’m still feeling fairly sickened at the mere thought of anything chocolatey or cheesy. I just can’t with rich foods right now. Just! Can’t! All I want are vegetables and greens and grains. And this stew? Has plenty of these things. It’s the perfect antidote to post-holiday food hangover.
When I saw the original recipe in Whole Living, I planned on making it without any substitutions aside from omitting the chicken. But as I went through the grocery store, slowly I started making more adjustments in my head. Butternut squash is lower in calories than sweet potatoes–into the cart it went! I like kale more than collard greens–that went into the cart too. Instead of leaving the chicken out, what about replacing it with seitan? That sounded like a good idea, so I grabbed a package of that. And because I didn’t have brown rice in the pantry, I decided that rather than buying more, I’d use bulgur. The result is a stew that is both super healthy and, shock-of-shocks(!) substantive too. This is the kind of meal that keeps you full for a few hours. Not an icky full, mind you. A good, satisfied kind of full. Which is the kind of full you need when you’re trying to detox from Christmas.
A hearty vegan stew with seitan, kale, butternut squash and bulgur. Adapted from Chicken, Collard Greens & Sweet Potato Stew (Whole Living).
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 8 oz. seitan, torn into bite-sized pieces
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 lbs. butternut squash, peeled and diced
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 1 small bunch kale, stems removed and chopped
- 1 c. bulgur wheat
- salt + pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven. Add seitan and cook until browned. Set aside.
- Add onion and celery to pot; cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add vinegar and deglaze.
- Add butternut squash and broth to pot. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until squash is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in kale and bulgur wheat; cook until kale is wilted. Add seitan, salt and pepper.
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That sounds good!
I love recipes with Kale in them.
Me too–it’s definitely my favorite green. It’s not bitter & it doesn’t get slimy when you cook it!
mmm I love kale!
Me too! It’s the only green I really, really love.
Yum this looks so colorful and hearty! Our bodies definitely let us know what we need so if you’re craving healthy foods – go with it. I think far too often we succumb to temptation and our body isn’t asking for (or needing) those things.
I always seem to crave fruits and vegetables after holidays and other times when I eat a lot of junk. And I weighed myself this morning & haven’t gained any weight since last week, so I guess it was good to go with this urge to eat healthy.
I think I need an entire bath full of kale right now!! We were so unhealthy over the holidays and are now onto a 30 day Paleo challenge. Its been a few days without cheese and I’m getting the shakes! Glad you are feeling better after the highlighting fiasco!
Yeah, I don’t think I could do that paleo thing. I try to stick to 90% clean cooking & 10% not-so-clean. Because without brownies… well, I don’t even want to think of being without brownies. So I need my bad 10%.
Good luck with the challenge!