Aztec Stew

 Aztec Stew

Aztec Stew This makes about 12-15 servings of 1 bowlful each.  I made it for my class at school and needed to make a lot.  You can play around with the amounts a lot.  Just have fun!  We served this with homemade corn tortillas.
2 onions
2 T chopped garlic
4 serrano peppers
1 green bell pepper
2 cups diced butternut squash
4 16-ounce cans fire roasted tomatoes
2 cans black beans
2 cups salsa verde
2 cups red quinoa
1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 T ground cumin
2 T chili powder
2 t oregano
4 bay leaves
salt and pepper
16 cups vegetable stock
cilantro to garnish right before eating

Saute onion, garlic, serrano peppers and bell pepper in water.  Add chili powder and cumin and stir.  Add squash, veg. stock, tomatoes and beans.  Stir.  Add quinoa and other spices.  Cook 30-40 minutes.  Add corn during last 5 minutes.  Spoon into bowls and sprinkle liberally with cilantro leaves.
You can use any color quinoa and I have substituted jalapeno peppers for the serrano peppers.  Also, this makes a lot of stew, but it also works great when you halve it.  It is inexpensive and freezes great!

Butternut Squash

Aztec Stew
Onions, peppers, and some of the spices.  I do not add oil to my food when I cook, so I used about 1/4 cup of water to saute everything in.

Aztec Stew
Butternut squash after peeling and dicing.

Aztec Stew
Here is a picture right after I added the quinoa to the broth.  It is very watery looking in this picture, but after it cooks for about 30 minutes the quinoa absorbs quite a bit of the water and it all begins to look more like a thin stew.  For a really thick stew, like the bowlful in the picture above, refrigerate overnight and then serve.