Colombian Vegetable Stew (Cazuela de Verduras). Esta receta también está disponible en español.
This comforting and easy vegetable stew is inspired on the popular Colombian seafood stew from the Caribbean Coast Cazuela de Mariscos. A cazuela is an unglazed earthenware cooking pot. Although exact recipes differ, the main component of the original is, of course, seafood. Apart from that it contains different vegetables like carrot, red pepper and tomato. The sauce consists of a seafood stock, spices and coconut milk. This soup-like stew is normally served with (coconut) rice, patacones, and avocado. It has a delicious and tropical flavor because of the coconut milk and added lime juice.
Colombian Vegetable Stew (Cazuela de Verduras)
In this recipe I use a sauce similar to the original, consisting of vegetable stock, spices and coconut milk. Instead of seafood I use the following vegetables: potato, pumpkin, green plantain, green peas and spinach. They are a combination of vegetables high in starches and lighter ones. You can serve the Cazuela de Verduras with white rice and patacones. A lighter option would be to pair the stew with a green salad. The stew is rich because of the starchy vegetables and the coconut milk. The fresh herbs and lime I add just before serving give it a fresh touch.
Replacements and recommendations
The great thing about this recipe is that you can use any veggies you like or you have left in your fridge, like sweet potato, green beens, broccoli or zucchini. Just remember to adjust cooking time accordingly. This recipe is vegan and gluten-free. It is diverse, the ingredients are easy to find and when using seasonal ingredients not too expensive. The stew is easy to prepare and you can make it well ahead when having guests over. If you are looking for a variation with more protein, you can add chickpeas to the stew, or for the vegetarians: eggs.
Links
Patacones (Fried Green Plantains)
If you are looking for a traditional Colombian seafood stew, click here!
Do you love Colombian food? Click here for more vegetarian recipes!
Colombian Vegetable Stew (Cazuela de Verduras)
Ingredients
Vegetables
- 1 white or red potato (about 250 g)
- 250 g pumpkin, ready to use
- 1/3 green plantain
- 200 g green peas frozen
- 2 handfuls of spinach, chopped
Coconut sauce
- vegetable oil
- 1/2 white onion, chopped finely
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
- 1/2 carrot, peeled and chopped finely
- 1/2 red pepper, chopped finely
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp achiote seasoning omit if you can't find it; it gives the sauce a red color
- 2 bayleafs
- salt and pepper
- 2 tomatoes, chopped finely
- 1/2 l vegetable stock
- 200 ml coconut milk half a can
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
Serve with
- 2 limes, halved
- fresh cilantro, chopped
- fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
Coconut sauce
- Cook onion and garlic in vegetable oil on medium heat for a couple of minutes until soft
- Add chopped carrot and pepper, cook on higher fire for some minutes
- Add cumin, oregano, achiote and cook mixture for 2-3 minutes until the spices are fragrant
- Add tomatoes, tomato paste, stock, coconut milk. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and turn low. Let simmer for about 20 minutes while you prepare the vegetables
Vegetables
- Clean and peel the potato, pumpkin and green plantain. Cut in bite size pieces
Assembling the stew
- When sauce cooked for about 20 minutes and the vegetables are ready to use, shortly liquify the sauce (using a hand blender). The consistency does not need to be completely smooth
- Add the 2 bayleafs, the potato, pumpkin and green plantain. Cook on a low heat, covered with a lid, until the vegetables are almost tender (15-20 minutes)
- For the last 5 minutes, add the green peas until cooked. Just before serving, stir in the spinach. Remove the bay leafs before serving
- Serve in a cazuela (unglazed earthenware pot) or a soup bowl. Sprinkle with lime juice and fresh herbs. Serve as it is, with white rice and patacones or with a light salad
Easy and tasty recipe. I used most vegetables from the ingredients and replaced some with the vegetables I had in store.
Glad you liked it! That is a nice thing about this stew, you can use any leftovers you have in the fridge 🙂