Cawl me maybe

Cawl is a traditional Welsh stew usually made in a large pot and oven baked. It's a hearty, beefy stew packed with root vegetables but I made mine sans dead cow and it was flipping lovely.

Ingredients

200-400g homemade seitan or beef-style pieces (you can add more or less, it doesn't really matter)
50g pearl barley
A large peeled and chopped carrot
2-3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion, sliced
1 leek chopped in to chunks
1 small or half a large swede/rutabaga peeled and diced
Any other root vegetable you fancy
1 vegetable stock cube
1 large bay leaf
3/4 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
2-3 cups of tap water
1 + 1/2 tbsp onion gravy powder (optional but it will give it a 'meatier' kick. You may also need to add more water if using this.
Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Saute the onion in the olive oil until it begins to brown. Add the water (2 cups initially plus one throughout if it needs it), potatoes, pearl barley and vegetable stock cube then bring to a low boil. Let it simmer for half an hour then add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a low boil again then leave it simmer gently for about an hour, preferably with a lid on to keep the moisture in. Add more water throughout if necessary.

Garnish with parsley, check for seasoning and nom.