African peanut stew is one of those recipes that I’ve been seeing on vegetarian blogs for years but have never made it. I’ve seen a lot of various versions and add-ins, so wanted to come up with my own. Its too bad it took me this long to make it, because its so delicious and the whole family ate it up! Even my pickiest eater! I decided to add it tofu for extra protein, even though you’re getting a bit with the peanut butter. But I’m glad I did as it upped the protein to almost 12 g per serving.
This made a pretty big batch, so we had a bit leftover…but we definitely ate more than a serving as we kept going back for more….it was that good! I kept the spices mild for the kids. There is cumin and red chili pepper in there. I thought that the amount of cumin was great, and its not spicy. But, if you want some more heat, you could definitely add more red chili pepper, or even a touch of cayenne.
I really liked the addition of cilanto and peanuts on top for the crunch, it brought it up a notch. But if you’re not a cilantro fan, you could leave it out. You could also use a variety of greens in this. I happened to have red kale on hand, so that’s what I used. But collard greens or spinach would work great as well I’m sure. The wilted greens really added a nice texture to the stew. If you find the stew is a bit runny, a good trick is to use the backside of a spoon and squish some of the yams/sweet potatoes in the pot. It will mash them up a bit and thicken up the stew.
I hope you give this one a try. If your family are peanut butter fans, I think this will be a hit!
- 1½ cups onion, chopped
- 1 bunch kale (approx 3 cups), chopped
- Cooking spray
- 2 cups yam/sweet potato, diced
- ½ cup peanut butter
- 1 small can tomato paste (156 g/5.5 oz)
- 1 tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 4 cups (1 carton) lower sodium vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- 175 g extra firm tofu, cut into small blocks
- fresh cilantro
- peanuts
- In a large pot, add a spray of cooking spray. Saute the onion and yam together until the onion is translucent.
- Add in the cumin and red pepper flakes.
- Add in the can of tomato paste and peanut butter.
- Next, add in the vegetable broth and water.
- Cover and simmer until the yams/sweet potato is cooked, about 15-20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, saute the tofu in a skillet.
- When the stew is done, add in the crispy tofu and kale and stir until combined.
- Garish with chopped fresh cilantro and peanuts if desired.