Root Stew

BOOM. It happened in a flash.

I was wandering through the produce department, looking for some dinner inspiration, when my eye caught ahold of this triumphant beauty.

Between the vibrant colors and the pleasing geometric shapes, I never know whether to cook with these rooties, or just whip out some watercolors and paint them instead.

Root vegetables!

I know, I know. 

These are not exactly the Lamborghinis of the veggie world; the truffles and white asparagus.

They don't have the snob appeal of an up-market Audi, such as the sophisticated leek, or a hipster-friendly Prius-esque Brussels sprout.

I put back a few of the carrots and grabbed a sweet onion and set myself to chopping. The parsnips and carrots were transformed into circles, but I did my best to cube the turnips. 

Because, you know, I am super fond of square roots. Ba-dum-CHING.

No, no. These underground-grown gremlins are at the humble end of the vegetable spectrum. Ain't nothing fancy about them at all. But dang, when it's time for some no-nonsense work to be getting done, they're your boys. 

This sprig of rosemary was left over from our Christmas dinner. That was quite a few weeks back. But hey, it looked fine to me so into the pot it went.

So I bought 'em.

I took 'em home

And I used 'em to make me a good ol' weekday stew.

Browned stew beef.  Chopped veggies. 

Black pepper rosemary, and enough vegetable stock to fill in the gaps. 

And before serving, I blended in about a tablespoon of flour to thicken.

Trust me. This was no fancy, fussy, midweek feast.

But it was fast and filling and chock full of good nutrition.

Not to mention flavor. The root vegetables lent a predictably earthy but surprisingly sweet vibe to the savory stew and all of my diners expressed satisfaction.

With a crusty bit of bread and my ever-present go-with of sliced apples (not pictured), this root stew was a meal sure to please everyone, just like the trusty Toyota parked in my garage.