African Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew

Healthy Recipe: African Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew

I’m warning you, this stew is delicious….However, it is not the most attractive stew one could photograph (especially because I use my cell phone camera!). None the less, it is full of flavor, is vegetarian, gluten free and lactose free. It’s also a great source of fiber and protein. This recipe is originally from “Today’s Diet and Nutrition” magazine in one of their 2011 issues (October I think?), however I have tweaked it a tad to my and Justin’s  liking.

Ingredients:

3 TBS Water

1-2 Medium yellow onions (chopped)

3 Garlic cloves (minced)

2 Red bell peppers (cut into bite sized squares)

3 TBS Brown sugar

2 TBS Cinnamon

1-3 TSP Grated fresh ginger (buy a ginger root, cut away outside skin and use a grater)

1-3 TSP Ground cumin

1 TSP Cayenne pepper (add more for a kick)

3/4 Cup Natural peanut butter  (crunchy works great too!)

3-4 Sweet potatoes (yams work too) (cut in bite size pieces and keep the skins (so much fiber and nutrients!))

15 oz Kidney beans- rinsed and drained from can

2 Fresh tomatoes or 15 oz diced canned tomatoes

4 Cups Vegetable stock (low sodium)

1/2-1 Cup Peanuts- chopped as a garnish

Cilantro- garnish

Directions: 

1) Heat water over medium heat in a large soup kettle

2) Add onions, garlic and cook for 5 minutes

3) Add bell pepper and cover and cook for 5 minutes

4) Stir in brown sugar, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne pepper

5) Stir in natural peanut butter until evenly distributed

6) Add sweet potatoes, kidney beans, tomatoes and stir (also you can add the chopped peanuts if you don’t want to bother using it as a garnish)

7) Add vegetable stock and bring to a boil

8) Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30-90 minutes

9) Serve in individual bowls with cilantro and chopped peanuts

Hope you love it!

My lovely friend, Bethany, made this soup at 3am (don’t worry she is not crazy, she works nights). From what I hear she loved it!

Let’s Be Robust!