Cathy Fisher
Cathy Fisher is the creator of StraightUpFood.com, a website offering free recipes and information on eating a whole-food, plant-based diet free of salt, oil, and sugar. She is also a cooking instructor, teaching classes at TrueNorth Health Center and the McDougall Program, both in Santa Rosa, CA. Cathy began eating a plant-based diet in 1999, and in 2016 published her first cookbook, Straight Up Food: Delicious and Easy Plant-based Cooking Without Salt, Oil or Sugar. Find her on Instagram and Facebook.
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Comments (90)
Having Stage 3 CKD, I don’t know if this was a good choice, but I made it anyway, and really enjoyed it. Like others mentioned, it was a little bland. I added 2 cubes of low sodium vegetable bullion to the recipe, since I didn’t have broth. Also, I added more seasoning to my bowl, like onion and garlic powder, and some thyme. I’m glad someone questioned about their stew looking brown and was told about scraping the dark gills at the bottom of the portobello mushroom. Since I never had those mushrooms, I wouldn’t have known, and saw the instructions provided, then googled it to get a visual. I’ll be making this again and pray my body agrees with it.
I made this last night and used some of the suggested modifications; used vegetable broth & 1 cup of red wine in place of the water, smoked paprika, added a bay leaf, 1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper and prepared in my Ninja Foodie. Both my partner and I were very happy with the results and agree that this will be added to our rotation. I have never really liked stew (beef or other meat) but this was delicious!!
Looks Great! Can this be done in a Slow Cooker? If so, how….? Thank you!
The way I did it was to fry the onion and garlic then throw everything into the slow cooker, 2 hours high, 4 low. You can do whatever, just until the potatoes are cooked.
Can you do this in a Slow Cooker? If so, What time is best, and may I do this on High, for two hours..?
I loved this dish and so did my meat-eating partner. It will now have a permanent place on my favourite list of hearty winter stews.
I made a couple of changes: added a dash of red wine with the tomato paste, included oregano, basil, thyme, bay leaves to the Italian seasoning and changed the water to vegan-chicken stock.
This is a new favorite! I was out of Italian seasoning, so I used dried basil, thyme, oregano, and a couple of bay leaves. I tend to go a little heavy-handed with dry herbs, including rosemary. I also doubled the paprika and used smoked. Subbed veggie broth instead of water. Oh, wait I added more potatoes and peas too. Step 3 is a great trick to thickening the stew. For the final taste, I felt it needed a little more kick so I added a shake of dry garlic and onion powder and generous amounts of salt and pepper. On a side note, I really like to freeze leftovers and find historically chunks of carrots get a “spongy” texture after freezing. For that reason, I ran the carrots through a food processor before cooking them, I always do this if I know the dish will be frozen
So good and satisfing!
I made this last night for my vegan/gluten free family. The mushrooms turn the sauce brown, nothing like the photo. Also had to tweak the flavours as it was very bland. I added gluten free Worcestershire sauce which helped a bit.
If the sauce turned brown, it may be because of the portobellos. You have to scrape the insides (the dark underside) our first, rinse, then slice. Otherwise the insides part does turn it brown – which is fine if you’re making mushroom soup – not so fine if making a sauce. I found that out the hard way years ago.
We have been eating a plant based diet for a few years now. This soup is by far not the best Beefless stew ever. I will definitely be seasoning it differently. I have 2 FOK cookbooks. I hope the other recipes are much better.
Big hit with the meat-loving family!
I make this meal nearly every second Friday, it is a major hit with all my family especially my 3 and 5 year old grandsons. I put a lot more different veggies in it too. A tablespoon or two of Balsamic vinegar towards the end of the cooking time.. delicious
Great for a rainy day!
I have stage 4 chronic kidney disease. It would be very so helpful if these recipes had a breakout of sodium, potassium, phosphate and protein content per serving. And maybe some CKD friendly versions of the recipes…?
I think the only problem is not knowing how many servings there are to the recipe in order to break it down and get a more accurate nutritional fact.
I agree with Denise also. I’m currently using the cronometer app by putting in the ingredients as a whole, then break it down by the serving. It’s time consuming. I’ll try the website KK provided, and see if that works.
There are numerous websites available where you can enter the ingredients for a recipe, and it will create a nutrition label for you! (e.g., https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076)
I agree with Denise. I also have stage 4 kidney disease. Please, please help us with a more complete nutrition list.
Made this in my slow cooker and it was DELICIOUS! The seasoning was perfect by dinner time. Leftovers froze perfectly and tasted fantastic when we had guests at the last minute!
Did you make any modifications to adapt to the slow cooker? Thank you!
This recipe is a classic. I substituted sweet peppers for the peas only because I’m freezing portions and didn’t want withered peas. I upped the spice amounts including smoked paprika and cooked the veggies in red wine. It is a meal I served my non plant based guests and they were impressed. Thank you so much for your creative recipes.
Yuk! Sorry I’ve been plant based for years. Spent an hour making this very disappointing. Rosemary overpowered. Huge pot now I have to gut through this . Sorry but no bueno
This stew is really good! I’ve recommended it to my meat eating family for meatless Monday meals.
Delicious! This is my husband’s favorite. I always replace the potatoes with turnips. Wonderful recipe!
I was so excited to make this however, we did not like the taste. The Italian Seasoning flovor just doesn’t work with stew for us. If I ever make it again, I will use a packet of McCormick Stew Seasoning instead of the Italian seasoning and the rosemary.
These look so delicious! Need recipes w no salt ,no sugar, no meat and no dairy.
Dr Fuhrman had tons of recipies of that kind
I made this tonight for dinner, I did use vegetable stock instead of water and upped the spices… It came out delicious! Very easy to make, with ingredients I typically have on hand.
Instead of water, used veggie stock.
Instead of plain paprika, I used Smoked.
Added Bay leaves.
Turned out yummy!
Blending some of this to thicken is a genius way to keep flavor and add thickness! 😀
We really liked this recipe and definitely use again. I agree that it needed for seasonings but otherwise it came out thick and chunky and so good!
I had to add salt and pepper and about triple the amount of spices and herbs to get any flavour out of this recipe.
I halved the recipe since I am the only one plant based. I didn’t have peas so I substituted green beans. Turned out good, will definitely make it again.
Made way too much of this. Can this be frozen for a month or so?
I followed recipe exactly– we found it bland. Added freshly ground black pepper and vegeta seasoning to our liking. Adding cannellini beans would add nutrition and flavor.
Hi, can I do this recipe in a slow cooker instead of a Dutch oven.
Thanks
Pauline
Hi! We did this. We prepped it the night before. Put it in the slow cooker on low for 8 hours and it came out just fine. Like others, had to add a little more seasoning, but otherwise it was great!
This was a very tasty recipe. I used low sodium broth instead of water and added some kosher salt. My husband really enjoyed it, even without the beef.
I love using recipes from this website as inspiration for my plant-forward eating (not a vegan, more like an 80% of the week vegetarian). This recipe was awesome, however I made a few changes based on my own preferences. Sautéed in oil not water because I prefer that. I used a vegetable broth instead of water. Added some salt, pepper, bay leaf and red wine. Additionally I wanted to give some thickness to the broth so some flour was added. Absolutely perfect in every other way, just thought it was missing some of what I would consider to be essentials in a normal beef stew.
Bay leaf…great idea. My grandmother added bay leaf to roasts on Sundays.
Made this a couple of times. Soo good. If i have beans or edamame i might add those
Made this a couple of times. Soo good. If i have beans or edamame i might add those
“Best-Ever” is an understatement! I made this stew last night, and it was a huge hit with my family!
I haven’t made this yet, but it looks amazing. Can you furnish the calorie count? Can yams be substituted for the potatoes?
Thanks!
This was simply AMAZING worth the time cutting up all the veggies. I followed everything except I added 5 1/2 c of better than bullion vegetable base making it rich in taste and soupier since it’s really hardy. I can’t wait to make another pot it was that incredibly good!!
This stew was excellent and we didn’t miss the beef. The next time I will make with 1/2 water 1/2 veggie broth. I also added some vegan Worcestershire sauce and a bit more tomato paste. Finally, I used small red new potatoes with the skin on and used less that what the recipe called for.
This was an amazing stew! Hearty, savory and feel-good food!
I didn’t have “italian seasoning” on hand so I used, thyme, rosemary and oregano.
After initially tasting it, I added a little bit of red wine and a few shakes of Cholula hot sauce (chili and garlic)
My husband was skeptical, but ate it 2 nights in a row!
will definately make it again.
Loved the heartiness and flavor. It was fun to share the preparation of peeling and chopping. Definitely going to make this again and again. Still getting used to recipes using water instead of EVOO when sauteing.
I made this stew and it was lovely! I added some yeast extract to the sauce and it was yummy! Will make this again!
Calories please. A serving is how many cups?
A serving is ‘however much it takes for you to feel full’! Eat healthfully in abundance! Take a look around the FOK site, and learn about the WFPB lifestyle… you will never have to count calories again, or ration how much you eat. You’re welcome 🙂
Delicious! The whole family (kids too!) liked it!
I made this recipe. And I find it blend .
I used 4 cups mushroom broth and 1 cup water, added another half cup of peas (I like peas) and a quarter teaspoon black pepper.
This is yummy. Used vegetable broth instead of water. Otherwise no changes or substitutions. We loved it and will be making this often during the winter.
How much rosemary should I use if I do not have fresh?
I replaced the peas with shredded Kale and the soup came out great!! I would totally recommend it.
I have read some of the comments and I agree with some:
Yea! why peel the potatoes?
Add turnips
Veg. broth instead of all water – I added 1/2 and 1/2.
We even had it the following week (out of the freezer! Super and as said before, did not miss the meat!
I am really excited to make this. My husband hates mushrooms—any suggestions on something I could sub for the mushrooms (and not eggplant as he hates that, too!)?
I would use soy curls. Butler Foods has the proprietary process for them, but they are considered a whole food.
You can totally leave the mushrooms out and it will still be delicious. You can also add beans or another veggie you like like corn
I really like this recipe. Like others I changed a few things but nothing major. Thanks for a great winter stew..
How do I save these recipes I like from your emails please?
Healthy ingredients but low on flavor as is. I advise being creative.
you are 100% correct, VERY bland.
Excellent recipe.
My wife and I loved this recipe. Thanks Forks Over Knives!
Wow! We just feasted on this stew. It is a simple combination of ingredients, but very satisfying. It’s about 27 degrees tonight and steaming bowls of goodness we’re much needed. I will definitely revisit this recipe in the coming winter months. I’m thinking about leaving out the potato, adding greens, and serving it over slow- cooked yellow grits…Thank you for another wonderful recipe.