This stew answers everything about this week:  half the ingredients are probably still in your pantry - kale, butternut squash, and beans - but garlic, kalamata olives, and a healthy grating of fresh Romano cheese rescue these root cellar staples from being leftover leftovers, sailing it all to the Mediterranean.

 

 

Asian flavors usually cure me of the holiday line-up of cream and sugar-festooned cuisine, but I’m not ready to travel that far yet.  After New Years’s I’ll want Thai Soups and Vietnamese Noodles, lemon grass, sesame oil, and ginger.  But it’s still just November, and I haven’t had enough mince pie or sugar cookies.  I still want to nibble on those after a dinner with candles sparkling in the silver, making lacy shadows of a white pine centerpiece.

But in this rare week-after-Thanksgiving-not-yet December I want the cliched “clean, healthy food” that doesn’t need much attention.  This stew tastes fresh, and is packed with nutrition without straying culturally too far away.  The combination of fresh sage and black olives is a “who knew?!” surprise.  For the beans, I used the wonderful, locally grown and dried Baer’s “Marfax” Beans.  If you can find any Baer’s Beans, use them.  If you EVER wondered if dried beans could vary in quality, here’s your answer; Baer Beans are so delicious they are almost a special-occasion food.  Still, this stew is very good with a canned cannelini or even a canned navy bean.

If over-doing on everything last week has you truly penitent, I’ll underline the fact that this stew is also vegetarian, even vegan if you substitute Nutritional Yeast for the cheese.

 

Kale, Butternut Squash and Black Olive Stew

 

serves 6

 

Ingredients

 

1/4 cup olive oil

3 onions, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

3 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth.

1 1/2 large bunch of kale, about 6 cups washed, trimmed of the center stem, and cut into 2 inch strips

1 tablespoon dried sage or 1/4 cup chopped fresh sage

3 cups cooked beans (rinse well if using canned.)

1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved

freshly grated Romano cheese

 

Instructions

Heat oil in a heavy Dutch oven over medium high heat.  Add onions and cook until they begin to soften.  Add garlic, and cook until that softens, also, about 7 minutes.  Add the chopped squash, and cook for five minutes.  Add the red pepper, and toss it in the vegetables mixture.  Add broth.  Cover and cook until the squash is tender.

Add the kale and sage to the stew, and cook until kale is tender, about 10 minutes.  Add the beans, and olives, and heat through.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve hot with freshly grated cheese on top.