Delicious and hearty, this Sudanese-inspired sweet potato, spinach and peanut stew makes a great vegetarian meal.
Sudanese food isn’t typically vegetarian, with stews often containing meat or fish. However, as is often the case, it’s easy enough to make a dish vegetarian by swapping a few ingredients. So I decided to make a Sudanese-inspired stew and when I read that Sudan is one of the world’s largest producers of peanuts or ground nuts. I knew that I wanted to make a peanut stew as not only is it delicious but my kids have had one before and they enjoyed it.
When I served this to my children, I blended some of the stew and added some Quorn (trademark), a fungus-based food product used as a substitute for meat, to their portion. I gave them a little of the unblended stew as well, which the little one gobbled up but the big two left. However, I would definitely class this as a successful meal and is one that I’ll be making regularly from now on. It makes a great hidden vegetable recipe and the peanut butter also packs a big protein hit so it’s a good new dish to try with picky eaters – particularly if they already like peanut butter.
Stews in Sudan are often served with a sorghum porridge. It had been my intention to hunt some out, but in the end I ran out of time and the kids were hungry so I served it with rice.
Ingredients
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 500ml boiling vegetable stock
- 100g spinach leaves shredded (or use frozen)
- 120g peanut butter (I use the sugar and salt free kind)
Method
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat.
- Add the onion and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often, until soft.
- Add the garlic, stir, and cook for a further 1-2 minutes.
- Add the tomato purée, sweet potatoes, chopped tomatoes and vegetable stock.
- Stir well, bring the boil, then cover and reduce the heat. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are cooked through.
- Add the spinach and the peanut butter and stir well. Cook for 5 more minutes.
- Serve with rice or bread or a sorghum porridge to make it really authentic.
- This dish keeps well so can be made in advance and also freezes well.
Serves 4
by Mandy Mazliah Adapted from Sneakyveg.com
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