BM# 97: Week 4, Day 3
Theme : Flavors of Greece
I had initially selected a date and chickpea rice recipe for today’s post. But I changed it in favor of this simple stew. This recipe in the book The Foods of the Greek Islands. The author mentions that on the islands, this is a classic vegetable stew made with wild fennel. The recipe had dill instead, but I skipped it since I didn’t have any at home. The stew can be a main dish with some feta cheese and bread on the side.
I served to my son when we was back from school and he didn’t like it at all. I was just done with cooking the stew and unfortunately, the vegetables weren’t done when I served it to him. I had to cook for some more time to get it right and it was perfect for our dinner. It had a mild fennel flavor infused with lemon and was very delicious.
The recipe uses a lot of olive oil, about 2/3 cups. I couldn’t bring myself to use that much so I reduced it a lot. The end result was still yummy. The stew needn’t be watery, though we prefer it that way.
Ingredients:
- 4-5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 fennel bulb, sliced thinly
- 3 large potatoes, diced into 1.5″ cubes
- 4 cups green peas*
- 3 carrots, diced into 1″ slices
- 1 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
- 2 cups vegetable stock or water
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 cup dill, finely chopped
- Salt and pepper
* Green beans is a substitute for the peas and so I used 2 cups peas and 2 cups beans.
Method:
- Heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a Dutch oven. Add the onions and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add in the sliced fennel and sauté until its soft.
- Add the potatoes, cook for 4-5 minutes. Add 1.5 cups of water/stock along with the peas and beans, carrots, crushed fennel seeds and salt and pepper to taste. Bring it to a boil, reduce heat. Cover and let the stew simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add the remaining 1/2 cup of water or stock, remaining olive oil (the recipe used 1/3 cup, I used only 2 tablespoons), 1/4 cup chopped dill and all of the lemon juice. Cook for another 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and done. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup dill on top and serve warm with some bread and feta cheese on top.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#97
Healthy and tasty too!
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I too can’t imagine that much of amount of fat in a simple recipe like this. Guess this stew can made with less oil too making it a guilt-free dish.
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The bowl of stew looks so delicious, I am sure it must be bursting with flavours from fennel and lemon!! Beautifully clicked.
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A very healthy stew indeed, with peas. Fennel seeds might have given it a beautiful taste.
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Lemon sauce sounds delish ! this would probably even go with pita or any greek bread – very vibrant and colourful.. and yes 2/3 up of olive oil sounds frightening , glad you could mark it down to your palate preference..
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Such a healthy stew. NIce and colorful. Yummy
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A very hearty stew there. I am sure the current weather is perfect for this kind of a stew. Beautiful pictures as well.
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That is a hearty stew rajani, I would love to eat it as such! Looks like a filling meal as such!
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Lemon sauce sounds delicious , seems to be a healthy stew and I bet it would taste amazing with some rice or even a nice toast .
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