African Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew

If you’re craving something hearty and comforting to warm you up on a fall day, this is the recipe for you! I made this many times to get me through last winter and plan to make it many times again this winter. This is my kind of comfort food, and unlike many traditional comfort foods, this one is really good for you too - while still managing to taste rich.

The recipe comes from Janet at the the taste space, a blog (by a fellow Canadian!) that’s full of really unique and healthy recipes that are so different from anything I see anywhere else, and I’ve loved everything I’ve tried from there.

I didn’t want to change much about the recipe because I knew it was perfect as is, but you could definitely mix things up with other ingredients if you want. Janet mentions that the peanut butter taste is not very dominant, so I doubled the peanut butter because I really wanted to be able to taste it. I wrote the recipe with the amount I used below, which I thought gave it a perfect hint of peanut butter, but if you’re not crazy about peanut butter then feel free to halve that amount back down to 2 tablespoons.

I’m also not a big fan of peppers in stews, so I decided to switch the pepper for carrots, which I thought would work well in this dish. I bought one of those ginormous bags of carrots at the grocery store, lugged it home on the bus along with all my other groceries, and when I finally went to take my first spoonful of the completed dish I realized I’d completely forgotten to put the carrots in. Urggh. Unless I write something down, I never remember it - does anyone else have that problem?

Anyways, if you have a better memory than me, you could try adding some chopped carrots in at the same time as the sweet potatoes. But even without any extra vegetables, this stew was still amazing. It also makes great leftovers for a filling lunch later in the week, so make lots!

African Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew

Adapted from the taste space

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper (green or red), deseeded and chopped (optional – I omitted)
2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon peeled and grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 1/2 pounds sweet potato (about 2 medium or 1 ½ large potatoes), peeled and cut into small chunks
1 (14-oz) can crushed tomatoes (I couldn’t find a can in this size so I just used half of a 28oz can)
1 cup vegetable stock
1 (19-oz) can red kidney beans
1/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion (and pepper if using) and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic, ginger, and spices and briefly sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds to one minute.

Add the crushed tomatoes and vegetable stock, followed by the sweet potatoes. Cover and let simmer gently on medium-low for 30 minutes, until sweet potatoes are soft.

Add kidney beans, stir and heat through. Add the peanut butter and stir until completely incorporated into the sauce. Serve warm.