INGREDIENTS
1 cup long grain rice
16-20 oz. frozen mixed vegetables
24 already-cooked meatballs (thawed if frozen)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 14 oz. can fat free beef broth
1/4 cup Marsala wine
1 envelope brown gravy mix
DIRECTIONS
1. Prepare rice according to package directions
2. Heat oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and saute until tender. Add in the garlic and cook and stir for another minute or two until the garlic is fragrant. Stir in the meatballs. Cook and stir until warmed through.
3. Add in 1/2 cup of water, broth, and wine. Bring to a boil.
4. Add the frozen vegetables. Return the mixture to a boil and cook for 8-10 minutes until the vegetables are cooked through.
5. Prepare the gravy mix in the microwave according to package directions
6. Stir the gravy into the stew. Cook, stirring for 1 minute until the stew thickens slightly, then simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Serve over rice.
Notes: The original recipe called for 8 oz of sliced button mushrooms. These would have been a good addition to the stew, but I didn’t have any. If you decide to make this with the mushrooms, add them to the sauteed mushrooms and garlic, before adding the meatballs. Also, this stew was a little thin for my taste, so I stirred in 2-3 tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with the same amount of cold water and added it to the stew, then cooked and stirred until thickened.
METHOD
Saute the onion in a couple of teaspoons of olive oil until tender, and then toss in the garlic and cook for a minute or two longer.
Next I added about 24 pre-cooked meatballs to the onions and garlic. Cook and stir for a few minutes to warm up the meatballs. *You can use meatballs purchased in the freezer section of your local grocery. I make a big batch of meatballs every so often, then package them in bags of 12 and freeze. You can find my meatball recipe in this post about meatball sliders HERE. I love having meatballs on hand for quick dinners like spaghetti and meatballs, Swedish meatballs, meatball subs, and quick appetizers. For this recipe, I just pulled two bags from the freezer and let them thaw on the counter top while I gathered the other ingredients. Once the meatballs are warmed, pour in water, broth, and Marsala cooking wine. Bring the mixture to a boil.
Then add a bag of frozen mixed veggies. Return the stew to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes, until the veggies are cooked through.
While the veggies cook, prepare a packet of brown gravy according to the microwave directions on the package. Stir the gravy into the stew. Cook, stirring until the stew thickens slightly, then reduce the heat and simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes. I thought this stew needed to be a little thicker, so I stirred together a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch with cold water and added that to the mixture to thicken it up a bit more. 
When you’re ready to serve, place some steamed rice in each soup bowl and ladle the stew over the top. This recipe lived up to the name of the book it came from. It was cheap, fast, and good…and my family liked it too!
By Krista’s Kitchen.
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You can see the recipe here: cookingwithkrista.blogspot.com
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