Mediterranean vegetable stew

Serve as a main meal or side dish hot, cold or at room temperature.

Ingredients:

2 T (30 ml) olive oil
2—3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 chilli, finely chopped
2 red onions, cut into wedges
2 each red and yellow peppers, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 T (30 ml) tomato paste
2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 x 410 g can chopped tomatoes
250 g (1/2 C) cherry tomatoes
1 t (5 ml) sugar
1 T (15 ml) Balsamic vinegar
2 C (500 ml) vegetable or chicken stock
Salt and pepper
1/4 C (60 ml) capers
About 20 Kalamata-style olives, de-pipped and halved
Couscous tossed with parsley and reduced-fat feta to serve

Instructions:

Heat oil in a large pot. Add garlic, chilli, onion and peppers. Saute for 5—10 minutes, until onions are transparent.

Add tomato paste, canned and fresh tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, vegetable stock and seasoning. Cook for 20 minutes. Stir in capers and olives cook for another 5 minutes.

Stir in Italian parsley serve spooned over couscous and sprinkled with feta.

Alternative serving suggestions:
Bring down the overall GI of your meal with these side-dish options.

- Brown or white rice
Brown basmati, regular brown, white long grain and wild rice are best as they have the lowest GI (50, 55, 54 and 54 respectively). White basmati is intermediate at 62. Short-grained rice like Arborio and other risotto rice have a GI of 69, while jasmine is the highest at 109.

- Pearl barley or stampkoring
Serve as a side dish or add to your stew — it has a low GI of 25, which makes it great for sustaining energy.

- Potatoes
If you can’t do without potatoes, go for boiled baby potatoes (keep the skins on), serve as is or “crush” with a little olive oil and a few fresh herbs. For a creamy, low-fat mash, cook potatoes in stock or water with some chopped onion, then mash with stock, fat-free milk or both and season to taste. Add mustard, soft, fresh herbs and spices to increase the flavour.

- Couscous
Add flavour by using stock instead of water as your cooking liquid. Add chopped herbs and spices as desired.

- Beans and legumes
All have a wonderfully low GI and can be tossed into the stew or served whole or mashed on the side. Cook from dried or use the canned variety. Canned beans should always be rinsed well to remove excess salt.

Nutritional Information