winter veggie root stew

It's winter again... True that I am no fan of the cold, but I must admit, the winter vegetables available here in davis, ca, is beyond my imagination! For our first grocery shopping in 2010, we went dutifully to the Co-op. To our delight, we noticed several more varieties of root vegetables, and almost immediately, a hearty veggie stew came to mind. For this stew we tried out a couple veggies that we have either never seen or never tried before, including the romanesco broccoli and watermelon radish. Because these are seasonal veggies, they were inexpensive: most costing between $0.80 - $0.90, with the most expansive ingredient being the romanesco costing almost $5.00 per head.

Despite the cost, the texture and flavor of the romanesco was fascinating; well, having never even heard of this vegetable, I was surprised to find that it tasted very similar to the cauliflower, but sweeter. The watermelon radish was also a delight: cutting the radish in half immediately explained where its name came from! The other veggies were equally tasty. And the stew as a final product was spoonfuls of sweet, healthy, comforting goodness =D

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients
1 celery root
1 golden beetroot
1 watermelon radish
1 parsnip
1 sweet potato
1 hailstone radish
5-6 stalks of celery
1/2 head of romanesco broccoli
6-8 button mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped rainbow chard stalks

1-2 springs of dried rosemary
1 small dried red chili
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup brown rice
pinch s&p

Procedure
1. Start boiling 8-10 cups water in a moderately large pot
2. Wash and chop all vegetables (~2cm or 1" cubes); add to the pot of water
3. Finely chop rosemary, chili, and garlic; add to soup
4. Add rice to soup
5. Once boiling, reduce heat and let simmer for 30min, stirring occasionally, adding more water (1/4 - 1/2 cup) if evaporating too quickly (if veggie & rice begins to stick to bottom of pot).
6. After 30mins, most of the veggies would have softened and started to break apart and the rice should also be soft (for brown rice standard). If not, simmer for longer (maybe another 15mins). Otherwise, turn off heat. Stir in salt & pepper to taste.

May be served with a tbp grated cheese (Parmesan or Cheddar) and/or a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Enjoy.