Roasted Root Stew

This stew was influenced by my recent dinner at Zen Kitchen. Chef Caroline Ishii served me a hearty root vegetable pot pie that I've been thinking about ever since.

I finally stopped dreaming, and decided to make my own stew instead. I bought up all the root vegetables I could find, and got cooking. My mother-in-law started adding apple cider to her soups, so I decided to do the same with my stew. This gave the dish a nice slight tang. What I really like about this stew is its strong rustic and earthy taste.

This recipe yields 6-8 servings.

Roasted Root Stew
- 1 cup of carrots, diced
- 2 cups of sweet potatoes, diced
- 1 cup of parsnips, diced
- 1 cup of white turnips, diced
- 1 cup of small red potatoes, diced
- 1 1/2 cups of yellow beets, diced
- 1 cup of red beets, diced
- 1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
- 1 leek, white and light green parts roughly chopped
- 3 cups of vegetable stock or water
- 1 1/4 cup of apple cider
- 1 tsp of dried rosemary
- 2-3 Bay leaves
- 1 Tbsp of fresh sage, finely chopped
- 1 sprig of fresh thyme
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 Tbsp of all-purpose flour
- salt and pepper
- extra virgin olive oil

Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F/175C. Toss the root vegetables in some olive oil. Season with 1 tsp of rosemary, and some salt + pepper. Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Spread the vegetables on the baking sheet, and bake for 20 minutes. If your vegetables are crowded like mine were, stir the vegetables half way through baking to avoid steaming.

2. In a pot, sautee the leeks, celery, garlic, and sage for 10 minutes. Add the roasted root vegetables, apple cider, thyme, and bay leaves to the pot. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the broth to the pot, and simmer for 40 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Right before the stew is done cooking, sift in the flour to thicken up the stew. Discard the bay leaves and thyme. Serve hot.