Vegan Goulash

Although my Grandma is Hungarian she never cooked Goulash. I asked her once why not and she said "I don't like it" LOL. Well you can't argue with that logic.
I got this recipe from Vegan Mania and it was really tasty, although I changed some of the mesurements and ingredients. It was a bit salty so I've moderated the ingredients according to how I think it will improve it :)
I served it with Hungarian Noodles (or "noodlies" as my Grandma calls them) which are basically dumplings.
It's slow cooking so around 15 min prep time and an hour simmering.

Vegan Goulash with Portobello Mushrooms

 Ingredients

1 large white onions, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 portabella mushroom caps, cleaned and chopped into large chunks
1 handful of English spinach, washed
1 eggplant, chopped
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
5 heaping tablespoons of fresh quality paprika (sweet or plain)
1/3 cup of tomato paste
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 soy sauce (optional)
1/4 cup liquid sweetener (optional)
5 cups vegetable stock
1 cups water
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp marjoram
2 tsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice of 1/2 lemon)

Note: Other vegetables that go well with this dish are potatoes, zucchini & capsicum.


Method

Heat the oil in a large pot on a medium heat and add the onions, eggplant and garlic.

Sauté for 10 mins or until they are just starting to turn golden, stirring frequently.

Remove from heat and add the paprika and stir it in well. (You do not want to fry the paprika as this will alter the taste.)

Add the water and stock, the chopped mushrooms caps, tomato paste and all other seasonings except for the apple cider vinegar.

Return to heat and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow it to simmer on low, uncovered, for at least one hour, stirring occasionally.

The sauce should reduce by almost half and become quite thick.

(If you prefer your goulash to be more like a soup, you can thin it with extra water or stock but I prefer it to be more like a very thick stew.)
Taste, add more salt or stock if desired. If too salty, simmer down with some water.

Once thickened, add vinegar and serve with noodles or your choice of grains. You can also serve with vegan sour cream and bread, rice or paprika potatoes. YUM

If you're using dumplings, prepare while you're goulash is simmering.