Creamy Yam Stew

This is a super high energy food -- just the thing we need to get us through the coming flu season. It's more important than ever before to start fueling up on nutritious meals and this Creamy Yam Stew fits the bill perfectly! It's crammed with goodness -- bok choy, chickpeas, organic rice and peanut butter plus more! So delicious my two-year old grandson cleaned the plate I scooped out for him! He said, in his cute little baby bear voice, "more"? I also made this for him when he was younger and whirled it in the blender in 1/2 cup portions, stuck it in the freezer and we'd have an instant well-balanced meal for him whenever necessary. It's freezer friendly, unblended in adult size portions as well, so make a double batch and you've got frozen dinners you'll actually enjoy! This mixture would probably make a very tasty Empanada filling and I'll be trying that out soon! I love anything in a pastry shell! I was also thinking it would make a great appetizer done in muffin size bread tartlets. I really want to try those too -- I remember making them in Home Ec with a tuna/green pea mixture (can we say 60's) and I thought it was so adorable! Have never tried it since but it's on my to-do-list now!! I'll post pics when I do.

Step#1
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 baby bok choy, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup parsley, snipped
Step#2
4 cups spring water
1/2 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
3 teaspoons veggie powder
1 tablespoon paul bragg
1/2 cup sushi rice, raw
Step #3
2 medium yam, diced
1 cup chickpeas from regular size can
(save whatever is leftover for Step #4)
3/4 cup frozen petite green peas
Step #4
leftover chick peas from above
1 tablespoon paul bragg
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons water or broth from stew

Saute first four ingredients in the 1 tablespoon of olive oil for a few minutes. Add 2 cups of the water along with the seasonings and the 1/2 cup raw rice. This can simmer a bit while you dice the yams. Rinse your chickpeas and throw in about 1 cup and the green peas. Add another cup of water and simmer on medium for at least an hour or so -- keep an eye on it -- stir once in a while so the rice doesn't stick to bottom of your pan. Add more water if it looks like it needs it. Blend all ingredients from step four in a blender until smooth. Pour this into your stew and let simmer on low for another 15 minutes whilst continuing to stir once in a while to prevent rice sticking. Sushi rice is a little stickier than long grain hence the reason for keeping a bit of an eye on it! I like sushi rice in stew because it just seems more cohesive in it's ability to absorb all the flavors.

Veggie Prairie Girl Rambles
#1 -- I used Lundberg organic sushi rice. Never lets me down! Makes great rice pudding too!
#2 -- All my the spices I used are Frontier organic! I love that they come in little tiny containers so that I'm constantly assured of fresher spices for home use. I also find that the chili powder is much more potent than your regular supermarket brand chili powder and I would hazard to guess that this is possibly due to the fact that there are no fillers in it.
#3 -- Chickpeas -- super important to find a good quality brand if you don't make your own stock from dried! I don't. But I found a huge difference amongst brands. For instance the Organic O brand by Safeway is absolutely horrid -- they are the smallest chickpeas I've ever seen, they're dry and hard and certainly not tasty! My favorite brand right now is Western Family Organic Chickpeas -- beautifully plump, moist and delicious. Tasty enough to eat cold out of the can! Again for those on the prairies Western Family Brand is available at Save-On-Foods!! And no, I don't work for them! LOL! Or get any compensation for my endorsements :) I wish I did!!