Sweet & Savory Hearty Stew

Not long ago, I wasn’t eating any vegetables because of their high-fiber content, so I pretty much had millet and chicken at every meal. I had been tired of this for a long time, but I was coming really close to the end of my rope; I was craving a little variety in my diet that garlic, ginger, and other spices weren’t strong enough to suppress. So I began to reevaluate the situation, coming to the conclusion that certain vegetables in small amounts would probably be fine. My functional doctor agreed that I could try such vegetables as sweet potatoes, turnips, carrots, and butternut squash, and he recommended trying coconut milk too.

So a couple weeks ago, when I was craving some vegetable soup, I made my own version with some ingredients we had in the house. It turned out to be delicious – good enough to eat even if one isn’t on a restricted diet – and it has been my staple meal ever since!

If you have a better idea for a name for this soup, please let me know.

A word of warning – I cook this stew on a low temperature for a long time to really extract the flavors and to make sure the brown rice is well cooked. It takes almost an hour and a half to make this meal.

And FYI – I don’t believe in superfluous ingredients. So if you don’t have turmeric, fresh ginger, or coconut milk, off to the store you go!

Ingredients

• 6-8 cups chicken broth (I tried vegetable broth once, and it was not nearly as good)
• 1/2 – 2/3 cup brown rice (1/2 cup if using 6 cups of broth; 2/3 cup if using 8 cups of broth)
• 1/2 – 2/3 cup millet (same note as with the rice)
• Half of a cooked sweet potato, diced
• Half a can of coconut milk (make sure the only ingredients are coconut milk and guar gum)
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp chopped fresh garlic
• 4-5 sprigs parsley*
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp salt

*I put the whole sprigs of parsley in to get the flavor then take them out at the end, but if I wasn’t worried about too many greens, I would chop up the leaves and put them in to leave in. A bunch of leaves end up falling off the stem and staying in anyways.

Directions

Put the broth, ginger, garlic, salt, turmeric, and parsley in a large pot and bring to a boil. Then add the rice and millet, put a lid on the pot, and turn the heat to the lowest setting. (The rice and millet expand a surprising amount, so don’t add more thinking that your stew will be too soupy!) After 25 minutes, remove the sprigs of parsley and add the chopped scallions (not much earlier or else they’ll cook so much they’ll disintegrate; I like seeing the scallions in the final product). After 30 more minutes, add the coconut milk and diced sweet potatoes. Taste test to make sure the brown rice is fully cooked, and if it is, you’re ready to eat!

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