Spring Vegetable stew with dumplings
We’re in full-fledged spring! I’m in love with the many faces of it, aren’t you? Spring is shy buds, coyly lifting their heads. Spring is fragrance and dewiness, offering shape to the air. Spring is diaphanous, clear-eyed light calling us to wake up to the renewed freshness of the morning, aliveness, and jubilant growth. It is cool, rainy day reminders to sometimes settle in and let our thoughts wander with the gentle pitter-patter splashing on stone and trickling down window panes. That last one—that’s what this cozy, nourishing stew is made for, a versatile celebration of comfort and greens.
You can play around freely with the veggies in this recipe, and the quantities, as with just about everything I make. You’ll notice it appears I went a little overboard on the monstrous dumplings here–that’s a byproduct of my last minute vision for pictures. Originally, this was made in a regular stock pot. Transferring some of it–after we’d eaten a good some of it, too–took down my available liquid a lot…but I wanted to bring in this earthen dishware of my grandmother’s, as the reflective side of spring always makes me think lovingly and wistfully of her, too.
I’m not sure whether the it’s the warm stew topped with fluffy comfort or the association with my grandmother that’s more nurturing right now. I guess the answer is an equal balance—the answer is almost always “both”. I’m welcoming nurturing, any where I find it. It’s my birthday in just over a week, and it’s a big one. I’m struggling with it, though somehow less so as I hurl my way closer to it.
I never really felt “age” before until relatively recently. All I felt was a sense of my own vitality, and it always seemed robust, vibrant…youthful. Then, I finally became a mom, later than most. It took a while, but when the spellbound, oxytocin-laden, comfort-cloak of protection eventually fell into a more regular rhythm of life again, the realization that most of my mom “peers” and friends were a good decade or so younger than me hit like a brick. Last summer, that knowledge spun into anxiety, and suddenly I had so much crackling fear.
I am afraid of ageism. I’m afraid of ageism tinged with sexism. I’m afraid of loss, frailty, and change. I’m afraid of one day becoming a burden, of irrelevance. Afraid of rejection, in particular by my younger friends once my new decade is spoken aloud, shattering illusions I doggedly believe in. And I feel guilty, because my friends deserve more credit than that. I deserve more faith and fearlessness.
The truth is, I’ve always been drawn to people older than myself, especially women. I think of all my dear friends and mentors, past and present, who have navigated many of life’s key milestones before me, and my heart is full. They are and always have been a constant source of guidance, inspiration, and reassurance. Maybe it’s time to embrace this opportunity to be one of them, unashamed.
Happy spring, friends! Stay vibrant!
Spring vegetable stew with dumplings
Serves 4 to 6
For the stew:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 small bunch scallions, white and light green parts, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon lemon zest
4 cups vegetables stock or broth
2 cups water
1 large leek, white and pale green parts only, tough outer layer removed, sliced into ½”-thick rounds
1 turnip, peeled and cut into roughly 1-inch cubes
2 medium to large gold potatoes cut into chunks
1 15-ounce can white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 small broccoli head, cut into florets
1 small bunch asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces (woody stems removed)
1 cup chopped kale or other greens of choice, fresh or frozen
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 Tbsp. white miso
1 Tablespoon Moringa powder, optional
For the dumplings
1 Cup all-purpose, white whole wheat, whole wheat, or spelt flour
1 Teaspoon dried dill
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ Cup plus 1 Tablespoon unsweetened plant milk of choice
1 Teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 Teaspoon olive oil
Heat oil in a large pot. Cook garlic, stirring often, until garlic is softened, 1-2 minutes. Add scallions, and lemon zest and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, 3-4 minutes.
Add broth and water to pot and increase heat to medium-high, bringing to a simmer. Add leeks, turnip, potatoes, and white beans let simmer approximately 10 minutes.
Ladle a cup or two of the mixture into a high speed blender and process until smooth. Return to the pot.
Add broccoli, asparagus, and peas, miso, and Moringa, and continue gently simmering while you prepare the dumpling batter.
Prepare the dumpling batter: whisk together all the dry ingredients, then gradually add the wet and stir to form a sticky batter. Drop generous spoonfuls of batter onto the stew, cover with a lid, and let simmer for approximately 20 minutes, until fluffy and springy.