Winter is here and I am craving warm and tasty comfort food right now. The ‘to cook’ list on my fridge currently reads tomato soup, chili, toad in the hole and curried lentils. Are you noticing a hearty winter theme? My freezer is starting to fill up with all the extra portions you get when you cook large filling meals for multiple people in a household of two. This meal is in that comfort food group with plenty of stodgy grains but also lots of vegetables.

This meal came about when we had a friend visiting who is kind of a big deal in brassicas (also aliums, carrots and legumes)* so we found ourselves using as many of ‘her’ vegetables as possible. This dish is topped with dumplings made just the way my mother used to make them. However, I was disappointed to find out that this involved buying a certain brand of suet and following the recipe on the back. And all these years I thought my mother made the best stew and dumplings from a secret recipe! Continue Reading