If you’re keeping close to home these days and want to whip up something that will at least make you feel like you’re trying to take good care of yourself (rather than bingeing on potato chips all day long in anxiety mode) I offer up this Italian Vegetable Stew. It’s loaded with all different sorts of veggies, provides that much needed splash of color, tastes fantastic and oh yes, is made with ingredients that shouldn’t be too hard to find in your local market, unlike pasta and antibacterial wipes!! What bigger incentive could there be than that?!!

It really is chock full of things that are good for you!

Total vegetarian heaven!!

And while there’s nothing particularly difficult about preparing this, it does require quite a bit of peeling, chopping and blanching (aka, cooking veggies in boiling water just for a few minutes until they are crisp-tender) which makes it challenging on busy weeknights, but perfect as a little weekend project! You can even assign all those stuck inside with you to a different task—gotta find ways to keep them busy, right?

As the veggies cook down, they release some water and that, along with a little extra water plus the juices from the can of tomatoes, makes for a nice brothy feel to the whole thing. Add a piece of crusty bread for sopping up all those juices, pass the grated Parm and you’ve got yourself a nutrient-packed, disease-fighting dish that doubles as a weekend activity and in these crazy days, what could be more perfect than that?!!

Stay well, everyone!

Italian Vegetable Stew

Makes 6-8 servings

Prep Time: About 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup olive oil

• 2 onions, chopped

• 2-3 celery stalks, cut lengthwise down the middle and cut into half-moons

• 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into thin rounds

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 large eggplant, cut into cubes

• ½ cup water

• 28 ounce can whole, peeled tomatoes and juice, use a scissor to cut tomatoes into pieces

• 2 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into small pieces

• ¾ cup green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces

• 2-3 zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into half moons

• 3-4 small boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

• 2-3 pinches of salt

• Pinch or two of black pepper

• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving (optional)

The Recipe

1. Heat the oil in a large heavyweight pot over medium-high heat until very hot. Add onions, celery, carrots and garlic, stirring every now and then, for about 10-12 minutes until onion are softened and carrots are almost fork-tender. Stir in the eggplant and water and cover the pot. Let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every so often, until eggplant is slightly softened.

2. Stir in cut up tomatoes with the juices and red pepper and lower heat to a simmer, and cook uncovered, stirring every so often, about 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the green beans. Cook for about 5 minutes, until bright green and crisp-tender. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a large, heat-proof bowl. Now cook the zucchini for 5 minutes and use the slotted spoon to add them to the green beans. Add the potatoes to the boiling water and cook for 10 minutes, until just tender. Use the slotted spoon to transfer to the beans and zucchini. Now add all the veggies into the pot with the tomatoes and red pepper and season with the salt and pepper. Give it all a big stir and cook for another 15-20 minutes until everything is tender. Ladle into bowls and serve, passing around the Parmesan.

Enjoy!

Note: Recipe adapted from Gourmet Magazine. I tinkered around with this—feel free to use whatever veggies you like or have on hand.