It's been so insanely cold here lately, and our building is old and barely insulated. Plus we are on the ground floor with a dirt basement. So we feel the cold- I feel it in my bones, despite wool on wool on wool. It's just the season for hearty soul-warming stews!
This stew has a nice sweetness, which Lena loved, and is a little tangy too. I would have liked it a little spicier, but thought I should keep it pretty toddler friendly.
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Stew
Soak about 1 cup of
black beans over night, and in the morning rinse well, and boil. For tips on digesting beans, check out this article:
http://www.choosingraw.com/10-tips-for-better-bean-digestion-a-few-announcements/
When your beans are boiling- do NOT go into the other room and have a dance party with your two year old to the muppet soundtrack. Unless you WANT the smoky taste. Let's assume I did, very well- dance up a storm then run frantically to the kitchen to save the beans from utter ruin.
Scrub your burnt bean pot ( setting beans aside first of course. I didn't have to tell you that, because you are intelligent... but this is the internet after all so you never know what someone else might do)
Finely chop a bunch of
green onions and a handful of
brown mushrooms, and fry on medium with a bit of olive oil.
Cube a
sweet potato, in toddler bite size, and when the mushroom are aromatic, add the sweet potato to the pot.
Add a dash of each:
cinnamon, cayenne, garlic, pepper (I save salt for the end, because slow cooking condenses the stew and can make it too slaty)
Open up a jar of either
canned diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, or if you are lucky and have a tomato press and canned 150lbs of tomatoes in the summer then one of those. Add it to the pot, lower to simmer and cover. Add the
beans. If you'd like to add some
diced carrots or celery, this is a good time to do it. When everything is nice and hot, throw it in the crockpot on high.
Stir periodically through the day and add water if necessary. About an hour before serving, dice some
red, yellow and or green peppers and add them to the pot. Just before serving, finely chop some
black kale, or chard, or any hearty green. You can even add that to each bowl and mix the stew in- I really like it
just wilted.
To serve, I made some
basic corn tortillas, mixed some a
vocado with red pepper, tomato, lime and salt and we ate it largely with our hands (which is how Lena eats anyway, might as well embrace it)
This morning we had it again, but this time added some
scrambled egg to make it more brunchy.
Also, I find corn tortillas have a hard time staying together and not crumbling, so we've gotten into wrapping a leaf of chard around the whole shebang.
Happy mama, Happy daddy, Happy toddler!
