BURGUNDY BEEF STEW

I try not to use fake meat in my recipes, but the Gardein Beef is really good in recipes. And, I must admit, adding red wine makes it lucious. This was an easy recipe to prepare and didn't take too long - just a matter of sauteeing the veggies and simmering the stew for a short while. If you prefer a thicker sauce, like I do, just add 2 tbs flour to 1/4 cup cold water (mix well) and add to stew a little at a time, stirring until thickened.

Serves 4

One package of Gardein Beef Chunks
(defrosted and each piece cut in half)

2 tbs of olive oil

2 cups Cajun Trinity (1/2 green bell pepper,
1 celery stalk, 1/2 onion: all chopped. Make
up difference with one or more of the veggies)

1 tbs minced garlic
1 large carrot, diced
6-7 large mushrooms, sliced
1 cup Red Wine
1 tbs tomato paste (buy in tube not can)

2 cups veg broth (Better than Bouillon Veg Base-
a nice dark rich veg broth that I use for dishes
that call for beef broth)

1/2 - 1 tsp of dried thyme

Serve with noodles, mashed potatoes or rice. The
recipe called for egg noodles, but I used large
bow tie macaroni (no eggs) which I thought was
the most similar to the wavy texture of egg
noodles. But rice would have been great also.

Saute 2 cups of Cajun Trinity and minced garlic
until starting to soften.

Add carrots and cook 5 minutes.

Toss in sliced mushrooms.

Add wine, tomato paste, and broth. Stir well to
blend.

Add thyme and mix.

While Cajun Trinity is sauteeing, brown beef
chunks in small frying pan with a bit of oil. It
will start to brown, but do not over-cook or the
chunks start to shrink.

Once veggie mix is mixed well, add the browned
Gardein chunks.

Recipe adapted from Cajun TV Cooking
(on the internet)