Savory Vegetable Crumble

This time of year when the super cold and miserable days have passed (fingers crossed), but the new season’s produce is not yet available is when I struggle the most with coming up with delicious and inspiring meals. Lately I’ve been weathering this ‘season’ by eating lots of steamed cabbage (my annual end-of-winter staple), keeping it lively with some hearty winter salads, lots of pancakes and waffles, and putting a new spin on ‘classic’ recipes. Like turning a fruity-dessert-crumble into a savory one-dish dinner option with whatever is on hand.

In tune with the way I’ve been cooking, The Recipe Redux challenge of the month is to be resourceful and Spring Clean Your Kitchen by cooking with ingredients that are actually on hand now, trying not to go to the store to buy anything new.

This one has my clean-out-the-fridge vegetables with golden beets, turnips, onions, garlic, mushrooms, frozen peas, and cooked Lima beans all stewed together with a creamy ‘gravy’ and topped with a savory crumble topping. I’ve made variations of this so many times and equally love topping it with quinoa flakes, which are not consistently stocked in my pantry, or old-fashioned oats, which definitely are. Go ahead and change it up depending on what you have. It will be delicious just about any way you go about it.

Savory Vegetable Crumble, serves about 4
There appears to be lots of ingredients here but they come together quickly. Use what you have and simplify or substitute as needed. This was originally inspired and adapted over many versions from Chickpea Flour Does it All.

1 yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 carrots or golden beets, diced
2 turnips, diced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 cup frozen peas
1 1/2 cups cooked Lima beans
2 tsp. Dijon or spicy brown mustard
1/2 tsp. dried sage (use less if ground)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/2 to 3/4 tsp. salt (adjust to taste)
black pepper as desired
1 cup water or liquid from cooked beans
2 Tbs. arrowroot starch

for the crumble topping:
1 cup quinoa flakes or old fashioned rolled oats
½ cup chickpea flour
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
2 Tbs. hemp seeds
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. minced sage and/or rosemary
1/2 tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper – to taste
¼ cup coconut oil
2 Tbs. water, if needed

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and get out a large baking dish, such as a 11-inch pie pan or 9×13″ pan.
Combine all the vegetables, mushrooms, and Lima beans in a large bowl. Add the seasonings and water or bean liquid and toss everything together to coat.
In a small bowl, whisk the arrowroot starch with a small amount of water and then pour into the vegetable mixture and stir once more to combine it.
Transfer the mixture into the baking dish and set aside.
Make the crumble topping by combining the quinoa flakes or oats, chopped walnuts, hemp seeds, and salt and spices. Mix in the coconut oil with a fork or your hands until the mixture resembles course crumbs. If it’s a little dry, add up to 2 tablespoons water.
Then spread the crumble evenly over the vegetable filling and place it into the oven. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the topping is browned and the vegetables are tender and bubbling.
Remove from the oven, cool just slightly, and dig in!