Kale, Barley and Sausage Stew

As I sit in traffic on the way home these days, tummy rumbling and my concentration drifting into thinking about what to eat for dinner, all I ever dream of is some kind of warm stew or soup with a chunk of bread or a generous serving of potatoes. Quite frankly, nothing else will do.

This stew is flavoursome, nutrition packed, filling and exciting with it’s range of textures. In each mouthful you get hearty sausage, earthy mushroom and chewy barley in a rich gravy. Made even more satisfying served with crisp roast potatoes, this stew will keep you cozy through to next Spring.

Now, one thing I have learnt over the many years of vegetarianism, is that no two veggie sausages are the same and what one loves, another will hate! So, use any sausages you prefer, they vary worldwide anyway. Even make your own if you can wait that long!

My favourite speedy, ready made vegan sausages to use in the UK are Linda McCartney’s, standard or rosemary and red onion. The texture is perfect for this stew, soaking up all the flavours and plumping up…

Ingredients: Serves 2, generously.

• 4 vegan sausages
• 1 red onion, sliced into half moons
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 punnet (about 300g) mushrooms, quartered
• 100g/1/2 cup barley grain
• 2 rosemary stalks
• 2 thyme stalks
• 250ml/1 cup vegan red wine
• 500ml/2 cups vegetable stock
• 10 whole leaves (a small bunch) kale, leaves stripped from the stalks, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce

Method:

1. Add the sausages to a large non stick pan and fry (you can add a little oil if you wish), turning every now and then, until browned all over. Remove the sausages from the pan to a plate and set aside.
2. Gently fry the onion and celery in the same pan for 5 minutes until softened.  Add the mushrooms and saute until starting to turn golden.
3. Stir in the barley then add the herbs, wine and stock. Season well with salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes, then return the sausages to the pan and simmer for a further 20 minutes until the gravy has thickened.
4. Add the chopped kale and Worcestershire sauce and simmer for another 5 minutes, until the kale has wilted.
5. Serve with roast potatoes or chunky bread.

Nutritional Benefits

 

No cholesterol
Low in sodium
High in dietary fiber
High in manganese
High in selenium
Very high in vitamin A
Very high in vitamin B6
Very high in vitamin C

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