Stardew Valley is actually a lot like the dish we’re about to show you.
What do I mean?
Well, it’s like this: When I was a kid, my childhood wasn’t happy or comforting. I don’t need to go into much detail about it, but the result was I don’t feel like I tend to experience nostalgia often; positive reflection on my past isn’t much of a thing for me. However, there are still a handful of memories I really treasure–things I find comforting, pleasant, and relaxing even as an adult.
Harvest Moon, to me, was like tomato soup; it was part of my childhood, something I enjoyed when I was feeling poorly. It’s something for low energy, gloomy days where you just want something easy to soothe you. Neither the game nor the soup itself are necessarily a masterpiece to me. They’re not all that complicated in concept, you know? No frills, no thrills; just gentle, warming, comforting simplicity that you can never really get tired of. It’s a feeling of coming home.
Stardew Valley is, quite simply, an upgrade compared to the Harvest Moon titles I played. It adds a lot of flavor to the simplicity that I wouldn’t have thought to add before, but it just kind of makes sense once you experience it. The flavor is still comforting, it’s still simple and familiar enough to scratch that itch without actually being the same.
Does it make me like tomato soup or Harvest Moon any less? No. Maybe sometimes going right back into that simplicity, by itself, will be all I want. However, am I glad I tried something new? Experienced a different flavor?
Absolutely.
So. To that end. May I present… Vegetable Medley!
You may be, reasonably, scratching your head right now. “A mixture of vegetables isn’t tomato soup, dude.” Well no, no it’s not, when you put it that way–but you see, this dish is also called “Vegetable Stew” in the cooking interface. Not just any vegetables, either! The ingredients in the original recipe are just “tomato (1)” and “beet (1)”!
So as a stew, this is less typical garden vegetable soup and more borscht. The description doesn’t really elaborate, it simply says “this is very nutritious.” Not much to go on, I admit, it doesn’t need to be–the flavors here don’t need covering up, just enhancement.
Unsurprisingly, this is a dish that comes to you in the mail by way of vegetable and green tea lover, Caroline, once you reach 
with her.
This is a loved gift for Mayor Lewis, Jodi, and Leah; and almost everyone else in town likes it, so it’s definitely got to be worth a try, right?
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Ingredients:
1 lb of beets (about 9 medium sized beets or less) – boiled for 45-60 minutes
1 bundle green onions chopped
1 tbs of olive oil
3 large tomatoes, chopped
1 1/2 tsp of cumin
1/2 tsp of Paprika (Hot, smoked, or regular; we recommend hot paprika.)
4 cups beef broth (we used homemade, feel free to substitute vegetable broth for a vegetarian / vegan version)
2 tbsp. tomato paste (some pastes include roasted garlic or herbs, up to your preference.)
Optional: Any of the following – mexicana crema, creme fraiche, sour cream, or coconut milk.
Step 1 – In a large saucepan, cover the beets with water (leave the skin on). Bring to a boil and cook 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until tender, over a medium-high heat.
Step 2 – Drain the beets. Peel them, and chop them coarsely.
Step 3 – In the same saucepan, warm the olive oil over a medium heat. Add the green onions, and cook until softened and the white parts are translucent.
Step 4 – Add tomatoes and beets, season with salt and pepper, paprika and cumin, cook down for 30 minutes. Fresh tomatoes are very acidic and watery, so you’ll have a lot of liquid in the pan at this stage and we’re not ready to add more just yet.
Step 5 – Add 2 tbs of tomato paste, stir in thoroughly, and cook for another 10 minutes
Step 6 – Add beef broth and bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.
Step 7– Blend the soup in a blender or food processor, (alternatively use an immersion blender) then put it back in your sauce pan and let it go for another few minutes to reheat, add any final seasoning touches you might need (check if it needs more salt or pepper, for example)
Step 8 – Lastly, ladle it into a bowl, top with a swirl of coconut milk / mexicana crema / creme fraiche (or if you prefer, just plain sour cream), and you’re good.
Add-ons and tips: Please remember to be careful when blending hot liquids; not only does your equipment need to hold up to heat but also to the amount of liquid. Also, because this is a rich tomato-y soup, having a grilled cheese or other toasted bread–such as crostini–would be wonderful here as an accompaniment.
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Review of this dish: Is the majority of Pelican Town right? Is Krobus wrong? Based on what I said before the recipe, I think you already know my answer is yes. The flavor of this dish is also every bit as comforting as you might have guessed, giving you that warm fuzzy feeling, while having a sort of rustic appeal to it. It’s an ‘adult,’ ‘refined’ answer to the tomato soup many of us loved as kids.
With everything that’s happened in the world today, I think it’s more important than ever to slow down once in a while and just enjoy life’s simple pleasures and comforts. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we did, and I wish us all a year filled with good memories that we can look back on and treasure, as well as a brighter future with new, even better experiences ahead. Happy Cooking!
Gamers' Pantry 