7 Delicious Warm Winter Veggie Stews ...

One of my favorite veggie stews is spinach and garbanzo. They just seem to go so well together. Spinach is a good way to bump up your iron intake, and needs hardly any cooking. If you use canned garbanzos this stew is really quick to make - as long as you don't add any vegetables that take a long time to cook. Try adding onions and mushrooms.

Vegetarians can still enjoy a lovely sausage stew or casserole. Use ready-made veggie sausages or make up a packet of sausage mix. The key is to cook your sausages beforehand so that they retain their shape when added to the stew. It also helps if your stew is not too liquid, so that the sausages don't get soggy and fall apart.

Lentils are the perfect winter warmer. Eat them and you will stay warm for ages! Use whichever type of lentils you prefer; I like red lentils for a stew (green lentils are better for burgers) - they only take about 20 minutes to cook. When I cook lentil stew, I like to spice it up with some cumin or paprika; a touch of curry paste will also work well.

Vegetables like peppers are typical of summer dishes, but can also be used for a delicious winter stew. Use onions, zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes and red, orange or yellow peppers to make a colorful stew. If you want to cook the couscous in the stew, then make it fairly liquid, as the couscous will absorb some of the water.

There's nothing like dumplings to warm you up! They're normally made with suet, but you can find vegetable suet in the stores. Dumplings are really filling, cheap and warming. Use traditional winter vegetables such as carrots and onions. If you want to cater for meat-eaters as well, you could add some cooked chicken to their portion.

Beans are an excellent protein source for vegetarians. They're also a lot cheaper than meat, especially if you buy dried beans and cook them yourself. Adding them to a stew bulks it up. It's also a great way of making a small amount of meat go further if you're catering for non-veggies. Cook a large batch and freeze in portions, so you can add them to your vegetable stew.

Finally, it's spinach again, but this time teamed up with sweet potatoes. Spinach adds some color to a stew, as well as nutritional value. Sweet potatoes take a while to cook, but you can shorten their cooking time by cutting them into smaller chunks. They're really high in Vitamin A, and have a good amount of Vitamin C as well - great for winter!

Stews make a lovely, comforting meal in winter. Try adding some crusty homemade wholemeal bread to soak up the sauce, and you'll have a filling, nutritious meal. What's your favorite winter comfort food?