South American Sweet Potato and Black Bean Stew
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Last night was another evening with the Riverford folks on our Veggie Box Evening Workshop. With chillies in their prime and Autumn very much in the air, we cooked up a warming sweet potato and black bean stew, full of fragrant spices, fresh vegetables and of course those fiery chillies.
South American Sweet Potato and Black Bean Stew
Serves 4
Dietary: Vegan, Gluten free
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 stick celery, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 red chilli, finely chopped (can be a hot or mild chilli depending on your preference)
- 1 red pepper, chopped into chunks
- 500g sweet potato, squash or new potatoes (or a mixture) chopped into 1 inch cubes
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 tin black beans, drained and rinsed
- (Or 100g dried beans, soaked overnight and cooked in water until soft)
- 300g green beans-runner or French, topped, tailed and de-stringed
- 300ml vegetable stock
- 2 ripe tomatoes (chopped) or 10 cherry tomatoes or 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
- Juice and zest of a lime
- Brown sugar to taste
- 10g fresh coriander, chopped
- Salt and pepper
Method:
- Heat a frying pan and dry fry the cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant and then grind in a pestle and mortar or electric spice mill.
- To remove the string from runner beans use a sharp peeler to slice off the sides. Leave French beans whole but chop runner beans into 2 cm chunks.
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onions and celery, fry for 10-15 minutes or until they are soft. Add the garlic, chilli, pepper and spices and chopped vegetables and stir fry for 5 minute, adding a splash of water if the spices start to stick.
- Add the black beans, green beans, 1 tsp of brown sugar, the zest of the lime and the juice of half of the lime and the stock and bring to the boil. Simmer the stew for 10-15 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for a further 5 minutes.
- Taste and add salt, pepper, lime and sugar to your taste.
- Serve the stew with quinoa and chopped coriander.