Food Friday - Vegetarian Gumbo

This is the first time I've made this gumbo from Veganomicon. It will definitely be added to our regular rotation.

I was starving when we sat down to eat. I tried to remember what I had eaten throughout the day and all I could remember was a few sections of Thomas' orange at breakfast and part of his apple at lunch. So, I ate three bowls of this gumbo.

Then, I was faced with a quandary: was it really fantastic or was I just ravenous? It wasn't until I caught sight of my coffee cup while I was cleaning up after dinner that I remembered going to McDonald's for breakfast. I started out the day with two sausage-less breakfast burritos. The gumbo must really be wonderful.

Vegetarian Gumbo
Adapted from Veganomicon*

1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 onions, small dice
2 green peppers, small dice
1/3 lb seitan, small dice (optional)
1 stalk celery, very thin slice
4 cloves garlic, mince
8-10 oz frozen okra
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes w/ juice
2 roasted red peppers (usually 1 jar), small dice
1 can (16 oz) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups vegetable broth (1 can + 1 1/4 cups water)
1 cup ale-style beer
3 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp allspice
pinch of ground nutmeg
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp cayenne
salt and pepper to taste

Make a roux. Melt butter over medium-low heat in a stockpot. Sprinkle in flour and stir until dissolved. Cook roux, stirring frequently, until it is a rich caramel color and smells toasty, 10-14 minutes.

Add onions, green peppers and seitan, stir to coat with roux. Raise heat to medium-high and cook until vegetables are soft, 8-12 minutes.

Add celery, garlic, and okra, cook another 6 minutes.**

Add tomatoes, roasted red peppers, kidney beans, and vegetable broth. Whisk together beer and tomato paste and add to mixture. Stir through. Stir in liquid smoke and all the spices.

Raise the heat and bring gumbo to a gentle boil. Lower heat, partially cover, and simmer 35-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool at least 15 minutes.

Serve over rice.

*Overall, I've been disappointed by this cookbook. Too many of the recipes are require four pans and an assembly line to put together. Even their simpler, one pot meals are needlessly complicated. The food is good but the recipes themselves could be constructed better.

*For example, I'm sure you could cook all your vegetables at once, rather than in two steps, and it would turn out exactly the same.