Meatless Stew

Hey Ladies,

This evening, I made a really good stew using fennel, carrots, onion, garlic, mushrooms (three little portabellows that were needing to be used or else), tomato sauce, nutritional yeast, and a can of black beans...

Cut the vegetables all up and put in a pot with a little olive oil...I let it coo****il the fennel begins to look a little weepy and the onions soft.  Then I added about a two cups of water and let it boil for about an hour or two...add salt and pepper. 

After the vegetables are all fork tender, I added a large can of tomato sauce and let that simmer for another hour before I poured the can of black beans into the mix.

I mixed about two tablespoons of nutritional yeast into a small bowl and mixed with a little ho****er (you can add milk if you want bu****er is good) and then I poured that mixture into the stew and let it set on the stove with the burner off for a good five or so minutes, stirring occasionally...

It is delicious and so filling...the nutritional yeast thickened the soup up and my husband says it tastes cheesy and it does have a bit of a cheesy/nutty flavor.  It probably doesn't have a lot of calories because nothing in it has a lot of calories. 

My husband said a stew like that doesn't even need crackers...he is so good to me....

If you've never used fennel, just cut the stalks and fronds off and slice the fennel and either cook it in the oven or on the stove...I cooked this on the stove top in a pot just like I would any other vegetable.  It is so good and adds a nice smell to the house.  Don't sweat it if you think the fennel is going to make your soup or stew taste like licorice because it won't....