Peanut & Sweet Potato African Stew

This hearty, soul-warming stew is a perfect meal for a rainy night, but works well just about every day of the year. Collard greens, sweet potato, and peanut butter bring the vitamins and the flavour in this extremely healthy, satisfying dinnertime dish. Pair with rice or quinoa to take this bowl to the next level.

Credit to BudgetBytes for the basis of this incredible recipe.

Skip ahead to any part of the recipe:

• Introduction

• Before we Get Started

• Ingredients

• Method

• Spruce it Up

Introduction

This is one of my all time favourite recipes. The unusual pairing of sweet potato and peanut butter works extraordinarily, and with a bit of rice or quinoa to give it some body, this recipe is perfection.

My love of food sprouted from my passion for trying new things. It’s important to always try things once, because it may turn out that you’ll absolutely love it. When it comes to food, I love exploring new ingredients and new meals, because sometimes I stumble upon a combination of ingredients like this stew that work so harmoniously, in such a tasty, healthy way, that you almost forget that what you’re eating is good for you.

This vegan stew is:

• Hearty

• Warms you up

• Filling

• Healthy

• Delicious

But for a moment, let’s forget the taste, and dive straight into the ingredients. Sweet potato. Peanut Butter. Collard Greens. Our three stars that provide so much nutrition.

Sweet potato is an amazing source of vitamin A - an absolutely vital nutrient for a growing child, but it also helps with vision, immune function, and reproduction. Sweet potato also brings a good amount of fibre to the table, which is super important for our gut health.

Peanut butter is a vegan’s best friend. Loads of flavour, but most importantly, it’s an amazing protein source and carries loads of magnesium and vitamin B6. Be mindful with your peanut butter intake however, as it is particularly calorie dense.

Collard greens, like their cousin kale, are a superfood. They are immensely good for you. They lower your LDL cholesterol (the bad one), and lower cancer risks by aiding our detoxing and anti-inflammatory systems. Seriously, collard greens don’t mess about.

As nutritious as those ingredients are, they have to taste good to be worth eating. Healthy food should taste great, or else we won’t want to maintain a healthy lifestyle. And boy, do they come through. The sweet potato is soft, the collard greens give a great crunch, even after they’ve been cooked down, and the taste of peanut butter holds firm throughout cooking, and works perfectly with the other ingredients to bring you (what I consider) one of the best vegan dinners of all time.

If you like a kick of heat, toss in some crushed red pepper flakes at the end, or a squeeze of lime with some cilantro to lighten it up.

This Vegan Sweet Potato & Peanut Stew can be taken to an even higher level, so feel free to check out the Spruce it Up section for more ideas.

Here’s the recipe, without the fuss:

Before we Get Started

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Note: Keep in mind how long it takes your rice to cook. If it takes 20 minutes or more, it’s best to get the rice started first, and begin on your ingredients afterwards, so that everything finishes cooking at the same time.

Yield: 4-5 Bowls

Ingredients

• 2 Medium Sweet Potato

• 1 cup of uncooked rice/quinoa/farro

  • Or grain of choice

• 1 Onion

  • I typically use yellow/spanish onions

• 4 cloves of Garlic

• Thumb-sized piece of Ginger

• 4-5 stems of Collard Greens

• 1 cup of Peanut Butter

• 6oz. of Tomato Paste

• 1.5L of Vegetable Stock

• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

• 1/2 tbsp. Curry Powder

• 1 tbsp. Soy Sauce

Method

1. Bring the water for your rice to a boil. Once a boil is achieved, cook your rice.

2. Dice your sweet potato into 1/2-1 inch cubes.

   • Don’t worry if they’re not perfect - mine aren’t!

   • It’s okay to leave the skin on - the skin is packed with nutrients, and won’t affect the taste or texture!

3. Preheat a deep pan or pot with oil. While your rice is cooking, dice up your onion, and finely chop your garlic and ginger. Add to the pot.

4. Stir frequently to cook the onions, garlic, and ginger, until the onion is translucent and has a shine to it. Add a pinch of salt.

5. Add your sweet potato, and cook for 1-2 minutes, so that they get to know the onion, garlic, and ginger.

6. Once stirred well, add your peanut butter, tomato paste, soy sauce, and curry powder. Stir, and allow the mixture to loosen and coat the sweet potato. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Add a pinch of salt.

7. Once it smells wonderful in your kitchen, add the vegetable broth. Cover, turn up the heat all the way, and bring to a boil. When everything is boiling, turn the heat down to medium, and let it boil, covered, for about 20 minutes.

8. While our sweet potato and veggie broth are boiling away, despine your collard greens by tearing the leaves from the thick stem in the middle. Add them to a colander or strainer, and rinse them.

9. Stack your leaves on top of each other like a deck of cards, and cut them into the thin strips.

10. After the 20 minutes is up, add the collard greens into the pot, and let them cook for another 5 minutes or so.

11. Add the rice to the pot (or leave separate and add them together while you’re plating).

12. Sprinkle with salt and crushed red pepper.

13. Enjoy.

Spruce it Up

To take this recipe to the next level, try these ideas:

• Add some crushed peanuts or cilantro on top. The peanuts and a great crunch, and the cilantro brings a cool freshness to the entire dish.

• A splash of lime juice while plating gives this dish a summer-y pop.

• Prepare the mixture of soy sauce, tomato paste, peanut butter, and curry powder beforehand. Ina bowl, combine these ingredients with a half cup of boiling water, and stir until incorporated. This will make it easier to mix in the pot.