For some reason when I woke up this morning I had a flash back to a cooking class I attended in my pregan days. We made hodgepodge with the chef (my friend and I where the only two there).Having recently bought some local organic soymilk I decided to give it a go, veganised and improvises I give you Iron hodgepodge.
To start with you will need a large pot with salted water on medium high, as the water heats shop 4-5 medium potatoes, two carrots and a hand full of kale (reserve the tougher stalks ends to make broth on the weekends).
One water is boiling add potatoes and cook for around 10 minutes, then add the carrots. Watch for starch build up!
As you wait for them to cook chop an onion and one or two bulbs of fresh garlic, you may also want to grease/prep your cast iron with olive oil. Another ten minutes and test the vegetables with a fork. If they are soft add kale and cook until everything is done. Set aside with cover on pot to cool.As veggies cool heat the skillet then turn down the heat and add your onions and garlic. As they saute chop some oyster mushrooms (I am going to be honest, I bought some odd looking mushrooms from the market, I have no idea what they actually are but they remind me of oyster mushrooms. Any white mushroom will work). Chop them into larger pieces (I just sliced mine in half as they were thin. If you use button or "meatier" mushrooms try quarters [STEMS TOO!!]). Fry mushrooms with your sauted onions. Add pepper, nooch, paprika and rosemerry. cook until mushrooms have a little bit of texture.
Now start spooning your boil vegetables into the pan. No need to drain as your going to be using some of this broth to thin your soymilk (if using non-fat soymilk you can probably skip this part, but reserve the broth for a later use it's salty and has some of the nutrients lost from the boiling).continue to cook the veggies until some of the potatoes begin to flake apart. Re-spice to liking as you cook. Then add in your soymilk enough to cover the bottom of the veggies and you can add more as you. As everything cooks together add some of your cooking liquid from the pot to thin the soymilk. Add whichever ratio you prefer of the soymilk and cooking broth until you reach about an inch below the top of the skillet.
Continue to cook again adding more spices as you see fit. If you have them fake bacon bits are great in this. Once heated through your ready to serve and enjoy! Serves around two I'd say.
And you're done!
Hodgepodge is originally made with whichever veggies you have lying around and particularly good with turnips. For fancier looking presentation you can peel your veggies but I like them unadulterated and this way is better for you anyways. Add more pepper, nooch and bacon bits to the top when serving. Croutons might be nice too.
Oh! Another oddity, I know this is a savory dish but it helps with the iron absorption and I like the flavour. Before you eat your bowl, squeeze a lemon wedge over the bowl. Either way it's sure to please. enjoy!
More photos, sorry about the slow quality my camera has no power:
