Green Bean & Mushroom Stew

I grew up eating a lamb and green bean stew--a Syrian recipe my mother and grandmother make called Lubee (which means green beans) or Roz n yuknee (which means rice and meat, the stew was served over rice pilaf).

I often make a vegetarian version with seitan. The combination of tomato and green beans is delicious and tastes like home to me. Of course the Syrian stew has cinnamon in it. When I first met James, he accused me of using cinnamon in everything because its such a common ingredient in Syrian cooking--he'd never had it in savory food before and had to grow accustomed to it. Even now, when I'm watching a pot of something he's cooking, he might say--"don't add any cinnamon!"

I saw a recipe in one of my most frequently used books lately: Robin Robertson's Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker: 200 Recipes for Healthy and Hearty One-Pot Meals that Are Ready When You are. It's a recipe for a stew she calls "Slow and Easy Mushroom and Green Bean Stroganoff," It didn't sound much like stroganoff to me because the stroganoff I usually make has white wine or sherry and nutmeg as the prominent flavors--but it did have that nice combination I like of green beans and tomato, so I thought I'd riff on it a bit (changing not only ingredients, but method, to simplify and avoid using multiple pots and pans). Here's what I came up with.

3 T tomato paste
2 cups veg broth (low sodium)
1 T Tapioca powder or cornstarch
2 T dehydrated onion flakes (I love the organic ones from Frontier--I can get them in bulk at my coop).
1 T paprika
8 oz small crimini (or white button) mushrooms, sliced
12 oz (2/3 pkg frozen) cut green beans
2 c soy curls, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes (You could substitute tempeh, chicken-style seitan, or just leave out the protein and use more veggies)
1/2 c tofutti sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

1 pound farfalle noodles, cooked al dente

Pour broth into slow cooker, stir in tomato paste and tapioca powder with a whisk.
Add onion flakes and paprika.

Carefully add mushrooms, green beans and soy curls and stir to make sure everything is coated with the sauce. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

When ready to serve, stir in sour cream, adjust seasonings.

Serve over hot noodles.