I can’t remember any of my friends in Sierra Leone being vegetarian. But I can remeber eating this black-eyed bean and sweet potato stew at their houses and mine without even thinking about it.
I remember downing bowls and bowls and bowls of plantains, beans, akara, oleleh, sweet potato and more. You should see how I stuffed my ‘Foulah man braid’ sandwiches up these delights – all finished perfectly by a spicy oniony gravy.
This stew is reminiscent of those times and combines two of my favourite vegetarian pantry staples of black-eyed beans (also called black-eyed peas) and sweet potato. If you have time then cook the beans from scratch (see how to cook black-eyed beans). If not then use tinned beans.
This really smells gorgeous as you are cooking it. As I have said previously the key to this stew is slicing the onions very thinly and cooking them slowly till they practically melt in your mouth. This is a dry-ish stew but if you want a bit more liquid you can add in some more chopped tomatoes and stock. Please also check out the chicken and sweet potato version of this stew. I think this is going to be my vegetarian Easter recipe.
So here is the second recipe in the black-eyed bean pantry staple spotlight – don’t forget to check out the stewed beans and chorizo recipe. Please try this and serve with rice, plantains or bread. And don’t forget to leave a comment below to tell me what you think.
Don't forget to tag #recipesfromapantry on Instagram or Twitter if you try Black-eyed Bean and Sweet Potato Stew! It is really, really awesome for me when you make one of my recipes and I'd love to see it. You can also share it on my Facebook page. Please pin this recipe to Pinterest too! Thank you for reading Recipes from a Pantry.
Black-eyed Bean and Sweet Potato Stew
Ingredients
- 200 g (2 cups) sweet potato
- ½ tsp ground coriander cilantro
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp + 1 tsp oil
- 6 onions
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 bell peppers
- Scotch bonnet chilli to taste optional
- 2 bay leaves
- 210 ml (1 cup) water
- 1 x 400 g (14oz) tin chopped tomato
- 1 jumbo cube optional, see notes
- 500 g cooked beans drained weight or 2x 400 g/14 oz tins
Instructions
Prep:
- Pre heat the oven to fan assisted 160ºC/180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.
- Peel and chop sweet potatoes into bite size pieces and season them with ½ tsp coriander, ½ tsp ginger, salt, pepper and 1 tsp oil and mix well
- Slice the onions very thinly, chop the garlic and deseed and chop the peppers and scotch bonnet.
Cook:
- Bake sweet potato in the oven for up to 30 mins till done. Make sure to stir the cubes at least once during baking so that they cook evenly on all sides
- Heat the remaining oil in a non stick pan and add in the onions, garlic, peppers, scotch bonnet chilli, bay leaves and stir fry for a minute until fragrant.
- Then add in the water, cover and cook on low for about 1 hr till onions are soft stirring occasionally.
- Keep an eye on the water level and if it get gets too dry you might need to add in a few tbsp of water at a time.
- Then add in chopped tomatoes and jumbo cube and simmer for another 30 mins.
- Then add in beans and sweet potato and simmer for another 10 mins so the flavours blend together.
- Adjust seasoning and serve.
I’m writing on this topic these days, majorsite, but I have stopped writing because there is no reference material. Then I accidentally found your article. I can refer to a variety of materials, so I think the work I was preparing will work! Thank you for your efforts.
I came to this site with the introduction of a friend around me and I was very impressed when I found your writing. I’ll come back often after bookmarking! slotsite
this is a vegan recipe. It should say that… vegans need to know!
The soft reset worked! Thanks so much for the information!
Hi Bintu, I really enjoyed reading this recipe. Truth be told my mouth was flooded but I think the actual term is mouth watering when you mentioned all the good stuff from Sierra Leone. Cant wait to see more of your S.Leonean dishes.
I love veggie meals (even though I’m an omnivore!) so deffo want to try this. Question: I have never used plantain (always wanted to) so please could you give me any tips on buying/ cooking? I really want this to accompany the feast…
Your recipe sounds really good! I need to save your website. Where do I find Scotch bonnet chili, or is that a UK item? Thanks. Nancy
Scotch bonnet chilis are a type of chili like jalapeno or bell. You can usually find them in specialty grocery stores or even the larger high end ones, like Whole Foods or Wegmans.
In my spare time, I cook recipes from every nation. I was having trouble finding authentic ones from Sierra Leone, until I came across your site. I made this dish along with your jollof rice recipe, and had a fabulous dinner! I’m going to refer my vegetarian sister to your website because I know she will love these two recipes. Thanks from Northern California!
Thanks Chloe. That made my day.
Thanks Lisa.
Hi Bintu, thank you for sharing this recipe on my linky party. I picked it as a featured recipe, and pinned it to my recipe sharing board on pinterest. Come submit another recipe !http://themagicalslowcooker.com/2013/04/05/recipe-sharing-number-1/
Cool, thank masses. Very exciting. See you at your party then..
I have been wanting to learn more about African cooking, so glad I saw your recipe on Sunflower Supper Club.
Thank you Diane
What a lovely meal, Bintu. It looks delicious!
Thank you for co-hosting Marvelous Mondays this week. 🙂
I enjoyed co-hosting. I had fun checking out the other recipes.