Bajillion Bean Stew: A Lesson Learned [Vegan Mofo]

Vegan Month of Food continues!!!

So pictured above is "Bajillion Bean Stew", as I named it. Looks good, right? Sounds good: black beans, pinto beans, butter beans, split peas, lentils, white beans, black eyed peas, etc. I added mixed vegetables, potatoes, and okra.

Well, it was awful.

Problem #1: Old Beans.
I've had them for a long time, I don't even know how long. That made for gross tasting stuff. All the problems below are pretty much moot because of this one, but I'll lay them out anyway.

Problem #2: Too many beans in one mix.

Too many mixed dry beans made for ridiculous cooking results. The butter beans were just right, which meant the lentils, split peas, and other small beans were nearly decimated.

Problem #3: Wrong seasonings.

I have been out of veggie stock/bouillon cubes for a while, and that would have given the stew some depth.

Problem #4: Okra, overcooked.

I put the okra in too soon and this resulted in weird consistency throughout the stew.

So, a pretty big disaster despite high hopes. This is what Vegan Month of Food is about, though: posting everything - the experiments gone wrong included. I was really disappointed because it was a TON of food that was wasted, but it was inedible. That's saying something, because I will eat just about anything, even bland *blech* stuff, to not waste it. Ah well, it took a decent picture and it is chalked up to food lesson learned.