This easy vegetarian stew is rich in flavors, thanks to coconut milk, butternut squash and fresh ginger. The leftovers heat up well for lunch the next day.
Monday was time for a serious detox. I spent the weekend at the Joshua Creek Ranch for Georgia Pellegrini‘s Girl Hunter (more on that in a future post), and happily feasted on venison, smoked turkey, wild game gumbo and maybe a glass of wine or two (or three). Monday was a return to a Meatless Monday meal of Crockpot Gingered Chickpea & Spicy Tomato Stew. With a chunk of ginger sitting in my fridge, an extra can of chickpeas and butternut squash left over from my recent obsession with Hearty Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash and Quinoa (I’ve made it three times in the past two week), I set to work on a light vegetarian stew.
One of the first recipes on my blog paired coconut milk and jalapenos with cauliflower and brown rice (here’s the recipe) and knew it was a good match. This time, since I’m now a little more health conscious, I switched to lite coconut milk and replaced part of the coconut milk with diced tomatoes. The sweet butternut squash provides a great foil for the heat of the jalapeno and the coconut milk and tomato sauce soaks into the quinoa. Piled into a bowl and garnished with green onions, it makes for a comforting and satisfying dish.
The vegetarian stew recipe:
In a medium saucepan, combine quinoa and water, and place over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for approximately 20 minutes, or until all of the water is absorbed. Remove the quinoa from the heat, fluff with a fork and re-cover to keep warm.
In a medium or large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and the cubed butternut squash. Cook until the squash is just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
In a large frying pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until the onions are turning brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Add ginger and minced jalapeño and cook for an additional 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add garlic. Cook for 1 more minute, stirring.
Add the lite coconut milk, diced tomatoes with juices, chickpeas and cooked butternut squash. Turn the mixture to medium-high and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the butternut squash is tender, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes.
Divide the quinoa between bowls and ladle the stew over top. Garnish with chopped green onions. Serve.
More vegetarian stews:
Cookin’ Canuck’s Vegetarian Mushroom & Cannellini Bean Ragout
Cookin’ Canuck’s Crockpot Chickpea Stew with Balsamic Caramelized Onions
Herbivoracious’ Persian-Italian Eggplant Stew
Sailu’s Kitchen’s Tangy Shallot Stew
The Skinny Gourmet Andreae’s Vegetarian Moroccan Stew
Vegetarian Stew with Quinoa, Butternut Squash & Coconut Milk
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup quinoa
- 1 1/3 cup water
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups diced 1/2-inch butternut squash
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- 1/2 large jalapeno pepper seeds & membranes removed, minced
- 2 large cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup lite coconut milk stirred
- 1 14 ounce can petite diced tomatoes (with juices)
- 1 14 ounce can of chickpeas, drained & rinsed
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, combine quinoa and water, and place over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for approximately 20 minutes, or until all of the water is absorbed. Remove the quinoa from the heat, fluff with a fork and re-cover to keep warm.
- In a medium or large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and the cubed butternut squash. Cook until the squash is just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
- In a large frying pan, heat olive oil oil over medium heat. Add onion and kosher salt and cook until the onions are turning brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Add ginger and minced jalapeno and cook for an additional 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add garlic. Cook for 1 more minute, stirring.
- Add the lite coconut milk, diced tomatoes with juices, chickpeas and cooked butternut squash. Turn the mixture to medium-high and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the butternut squash is tender, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes.
- Divide the quinoa between bowls and ladle the stew over top. Garnish with sliced green onions. Serve.
Nutrition
Disclosure: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
MEAl5
SO good. And so good for you
Kris
I LOVE this recipe. I do mine a little differently though. I always double it so I can use the whole can of coconut milk – I like it to be like more of a chili consistency rather than what the picture shows. I also add cinnamon and nutmeg to mine. It makes it hot and sweet at the same time! I also just mix the quinoa in with the stew – I end up mixing it all up anyway!
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David Star
Recipe nice enough, just bland. Maybe my jalapeno’s were not hot enough.
Added minced Sage to go with the butternut squash, Oregano to go with the chickpeas, and lots of black pepper. Did not have quinoa on hand so made brown rice. Served stew/rice with broiled pacific salmon. Will look at other herbs in the future. Will make this again, but will add cumin or curry spices.
Alex
I just made this !
Its awesome and not very long to make (quite messy though… two different saucepans and a frying pan—ugh)
I would suggest making a little more quinoa as I felt there was too much sauce for the grain (don’t double it though.. just maybe 1 cup instead of 2/3rds)
Thanks !
Kelly
This is absolutely delicious! Best detox stew after all the Christmas glutany! Do you have any idea what the nutritional values are? Thank you for this recipe
Dara (Cookin' Canuck)
Kelly, I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed this. I’m sorry – I haven’t figured out the nutritional data for this one, but here is a site that will help you do so: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp I hope that helps! I do plan to start including nutritional information for future recipes very soon.
Colleen
I made this last night for my family and wanted to let you know what a hit it was. Even the 6 and 4 year olds cleared their plate, which isn’t always the case. Thank you for a keeper.
Anneli Faiers (@Delicieux_fr)
I have a vegetarian coming to live with me for the next 3 weeks and this immediately caught my eye. Anything with coconut is a winner for me and I love chickpeas too so I shall be making this asap. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
A
I made this tonight for dinner and it was a great way to use up some leftover coconut milk (other half was in a curry). I ended up tossing everything in the pot all at once, so I don’t lose any of the butternut squash goodness and so flavours would be more integrated. Also added a cup of veg broth to thin out the consistency. Next time I may add some spicyness, since coconut milk seem to beg for it.
Dara (Cookin' Canuck)
Thanks for letting me know. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I always love to hear the changes that other make to suit their taste buds.
JenE
This was awesome. The nutty flavor of the quinoa was a perfect complement to the stew….
Any tips on what to do w/ the rest of the coconut milk? I have more squash too, I will probably make another batch of this for my lunches here at home w/ the kids…
Kelli H (Made in Sonoma)
I just made this for dinner and it’s so delicious! It also feels good to eat because I know it’s healthy!
Dara (Cookin' Canuck)
I’m so glad, Kelli. Thanks so much for letting me know.
Kelsey@ ReadySetFeast
Looks looks almost too good to eat! I just started using coconut milk in cooking and it makes such a nice difference!
Heather | Farmgirl Gourmet
Wonderful recipe Dara! I am bookmarking this for sure. I still have a bounty of homegrown butternuts waiting for their delicious demise in my basement. 🙂 Great inspiration!
Marla
Dara, I too went meatless the days after our amazing weekend. I had mostly veggies, lentils and nuts. Wish I had this recipe though. Looks wonderful!
Katie
Just the title of this recipe had me hooked like a fish on a pole! This looks incredibly easy to make with simple, flavorful foods. I’m sure it’s a crowd favorite. Thanks for sharing!
xo,
Katie