Don’t worry pals, this isn’t going to be one of those recipe posts with 40 paragraphs of my life experiences with beans – let’s just jump right in. It isn’t the prettiest, but this hearty vegan stew recipe is so easy, and so so delicious.

Hearty vegan stew ingredients

• 1 large red onion
• 1 large red pepper
• 1 aubergine
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 2-3 tsp harissa paste
• 2 tins chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin baked beans
• 1 tin kidney beans
• 1 pack pre-made lentils
• oil
• thyme (dried or fresh – doesn’t matter!)
• salt & pepper
• paprika
• nutritional yeast
• marmite/stock

• wedges, mash, rice, or whatever you want to accompany – if anything!

Hearty vegan stew method

• Heat oven to 180ºC
• To a large oven dish, add 2-3 tblsp oil, salt, pepper & thyme. Chuck in your garlic cloves (still in their papery cases) followed by roughly chopped onion, pepper and aubergine – I think it’s best to keep these pretty chunky.
• Toss them about to cover with oil and seasoning, and cook for about 45mins, or until soft and delicious.
• Once that’s all done, heat up a big casserole pot on the hob, pop the garlic out of its skin, and chuck all the roast veg into the pot. Stir with 2-3 teaspoons of harissa paste.
• Add in all the tomatoes, beans and lentils, stir well, and bring to the boil before turning the heat down.
• Taste and season to taste – nutritional yeast, marmite and/or stock can give your stew a deeper, richer flavour, but this is up to you. I used 3 teaspoons nutritional yeast and a teaspoon of marmite.

And that’s it! It’s so cheap ‘n’ easy, and I’m actually quite surprised at how good it was, considering I basically just made it up as I went, with only a vague idea of how it might turn out.

It’s amazing alongside some spicy wedges, but equally fulfilling on its own. Enjoy!