All-in-One Vegan Hot Pot

All-in-One Vegan Hot Pot with Millet

All-in-One Vegan Hot Pot with Black Rice

From the moment I first decided to start throwing this together last week, I called it a “hot pot” to myself. I don’t know why. I think maybe because it was cold outside, and I warmed up one of my Mom’s old ceramic lined iron pots to start the process. But when I looked up “hot pot” on the internet I was dismayed to discover it means you are cooking raw meats and veggies in boiling broth, sort of like fondue, and then dressing them with condiments. Even though that isn’t what I did, I still think of this wonderful nourishing lunch as a “hot pot” because I didn’t follow a traditional soup recipe and I came out with a lovely lunch full of healthy and colorful plant-based food–all in one hot pot.

Shakespeare’s Juliet reminds us that ” a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” If you read my blog regularly, you know how I feel about the truth of metaphor. I believe it’s the stuff our universe is made of. So, too, then, a hot pot that’s called an all-in-one vegan hot pot, will taste every bit as delicious, and be even more healthy than the meat laden original. You can make this with anything you have on hand. But it’s nice to start the process with mushrooms if at all possible. If you saute them in the pan for several minutes first they will give your broth a tasty earthy base. It’s also helpful to have lots of leftovers you need to use up like cooked rice, squash, beans,and sweet potato. And some chickpea or soy miso. If you’ve ventured into making some Burmese style soy free tofu, this is a great way to use it.

This isn’t really a recipe. I didn’t measure and I’ve never put exactly the same thing in it as I did the previous time. So I’ll just describe what I did and show you some pictures of the process.

First I started with about 1/2 cup of chopped mushrooms. I had some I had gathered, but I’ve also used some from the store and they work fine, too. Heat up a heavy pan and then saute them for several minutes with just a dash of coconut aminos or tamari, until they are exude their moisture, shrink and turn brown some. Then add a chopped carrot, broccoli if you have it, and some green onion, or any kind of onion, or garlic (I had some green garlic from last Spring all chopped up in bags in the freezer and I added that one day) and anywhere from 1 1/2 cups to 2 cups of water. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer until the carrot is cooked. This is your “broth.”  When the veggies are brightly colored and cooked, add rice (or any other grain), a spoonful of cooked beans, a half cup of the cubed chickpea tofu, or any leftover cooked winter squash or sweet potato.You can also add kale or romaine shredded into ribbons at this point as well.Let it all simmer just another few minutes until everything is bright and warm.

All-in-One Vegan Hot Pot simmering

During the simmering, place a spoonful of miso in the bottom of your pretty bowl. Spoon in some of the broth and stir to make a nice smooth paste. When the soup/stew is done, pour it into the bowl and stir to mix in the diluted miso.

miso diluted with a little broth and bits of torn nori

I also put some torn nori into my  bowl along with the miso. And I topped my full bowl with some raw grated garlic.(I try to have these two things as often as possible because they are keeping my tooth very happy and free of infection.) Here’s a list of the leftovers and vegetables I needed to use up that I put in my All-in-One Vegan Hot Pot:

You can do this with anything you have in the fridge. If you don’t have any beans cooked, I bet you could add some red lentils or quinoa or both and let those cook in the broth. If so, though, you may want to use a little more water.

mushrooms
carrot
broccoli
green onion cooked black rice or millet
cooked red kuri or butternut squash
chickpea tofu
black beans
garlic
nori
chickpea miso
AsYouWish spice blend
romaine
kale
extra tumeric
flat leaf parsley for garnish.

You can do this with anything you have in the fridge. If you don’t have any beans cooked, I bet you could add some red lentils or quinoa or both and let those cook in the broth. If so, though, you may want to use a little more water. The less water or broth you use, the more like stew your all-in-one pot will come out. The more water you use, the more it will be like soup.

A dear friend of mine who lived with my son and me for a while years ago had shorthand and a signal for this kind of meal, the kind she was willing to make because it only took one pot. Either she’d say “one pot” and we’d laugh, or just hold up one finger for the one pot. If she ate something I made that she really liked, she’d ask, “how did you make this?” Then she’d narrow her eyes and say “how many pots?” Or, “Yes, it’s good, but too many pots.” And we’d laugh again. She knew it was important to eat well, but that there were better things to do than lots of dishes. It’s hard to disagree with that. A sinkful of dishes by any other name still have to be washed.