Easy veggie stew recipe

I've posted loads of variations of this in my Finnish blog, so I thought I'd post one here as well 😃

This is a brilliant recipe as you can pretty much use any ingredients you like, just chop and mix, ovenise, and that's about it.. I'm all for cheap and effortless cooking, which brings a tasty result!

I won't include a list of ingredients as you can pick what you like - instead, I'm going through all the steps with photos.. The amounts are not cast in stone, either - it really depends on the size of your oven dish.

The first layer; I started with pouring some vegetable oil to cover the bottom of my oven dish.. Then, I chopped some fresh basil - you can use any herbs you like.. Fresh is nicer, but dried is fine as well.. I added some sea salt, black pepper, and chilli powder.. Here, I've added a few cloves of garlic - when I don't have fresh garlic, I use garlic powder.. If you don't like garlic, just leave it out, or use something else instead.. And finally, I've added a chopped onion.. The onion isn't necessary, either, or you could use chives, or some other type of onion instead!

For the next layer, I chopped butternut squash, which I'd never even tasted until quite recently, but I really love it, and it adds lovely colour to the food as well ♥

As my oven dish is not the largest, I mixed the first layers at this point, and just added the rest of the layers on top of everything - the flavours will still get around in the oven 😃

A layer of cherry tomatoes..

A layer of parsnip..

I added some garam masala, and sweet chilli sauce (not necessary, or can be replaced with something else, if you like).. Also, and this is quite important: add a cup of water!

Once, I actually forgot to add that water (thanks to my attention-seeking cats..), but I added it later, when removing the tin foil, and it was still fine - but ideally, add it before ovenising.. 😂

I covered the dish with pierced tin foil, and baked it in 180C fan oven for the first 25 minutes.. (NOTE: if you have a different type of oven, adjust temperature and cooking time accordingly - Google will find some helpful conversion sites, if required..)

After the first 25 minutes, I took the dish out of the oven, and removed the tin foil..

Normally, at this point, I would add a layer of sliced mild white cheddar.. However, I was low on cheese, so I added some nice lumps of butter instead.. (Butter = goooood..) 😃

Then, I baked it for another 25 minutes, this time without the tin foil..

Tada! (It does actually look much nicer when I've added cheese - I'll post a picture in the end of this entry - but it's very nice without the cheese as well!)

Delicious!

For me, this is the whole meal, but it's also a nice side dish.

Now, about those alternatives..

Here's a picture of a very similar stew, where I'd added thin slices of butternut squash on top, and after the first 25 minutes in the oven, a layer of mild white cheddar in slices.. I just love the look of that golden brown cheese, mmmm..

I've also used crumbled feta cheese, with and without the cheddar..

Various ingredients I've used, so far; potatoes, different types of onions, chopped curly kale, pre-cooked beetroot, carrots, parsnips, butternut squash.. (If using spuds, carrots, parsnips, or anything dense like that, chop it smaller to make sure that it'll cook in the same time with the other stuff..)

For the oil, I've used olive oil, sunflower oil, and rapeseed oil - use whatever you like.. The same with herbs and spices - be experimental, or use your personal favourites 😃

I doubt I'll ever get tired of this recipe as it's so effortless, and using different ingredients, it doesn't feel like you're eating the same stuff again and again.. I usually buy whatever LIDL sells for 49c, and cook with those - stretching the tiny budget to the max..

This doesn't necessarily have to be all vegetables, either - I've sometimes added chopped kabanossi sticks, leftover chicken, etc.