Brazilian Style Black Bean Stew
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 medium sweet potato, cubed or diced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 small hot green chili pepper (or more)
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained and/or rinsed
3/4 cup to 1 cup water or vegetable broth
1 ripe plantain, peeled and cubed or diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt
In large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook, stirring, until onion is golden, about 3 minutes.
Stir in sweet potatoes, bell pepper, tomatoes (with liquid), chili pepper and 3/4 cup water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until potatoes are tender but still firm, 10 to 15 minutes.
Stir in beans and simmer gently, uncovered, until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in plantain and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in cilantro and salt. Serve hot.
*Serving suggestions: Serve with warmed flour tortillas. Add ripe mango for variation. Dish pairs well with some fresh steamed Swiss chard. If stew gets too thick just keep adding more water/broth.*
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Made this and it was incredible! I pre-cooked my onions, garlic and sweet potatoes and it turned out great. I made a massive amount and ate it for 3 days straight. Awesome awesome.
This sounds great. Yesterday I bought 3 very unripe plantains because my carnivorous friend from Ghana cooked them for us recently, in a home-made salsa, with rice, and I've just soaked 300g of turtle beans. I've never used plantains before, so I'm on a little odyssey of inspiration. Why does this recipe require ripe plantains, I wonder? Anyway, I'll be using the unripe ones (probably pre-fried)—and I like what Brookiecookie wrote, so I'll dust off the slow cooker, add lots of extra seasoning, and maybe add the fried plantain last.
I would agree with ed about precooking the sweet potatoes and I added 2 times the amount of garlic which to me made is delicious. ;)b
It's good...but not Brazilian at all...we don't use plantains in our food in Brazil (yeah, I'm Brazilian). And the majority of the country does not eat spicy food, and cilantro is not widely used also, well the whole recipe is not brazilian...sorry...but this is the true, but as I said, it is good! :)
Pre-cooked my onions & garlic in coconut oil.. then tossed everything into the crock pot for 5 hours .. at serving time, added the cilantro & plantain.. then topped with avocado. Was pretty tasty and somewhat spicy!
This is very good, except you might want to precook your sweet potato first because they take a long time to cook in the stew. Also I added oregno, cumin, cayenne, salt and sugar... it was pretty good.
This was actually quite yummy, with the exception of the plantains, which is what probably makes it Brazilian...
I just don't care for sweetness in my food, yet the sweet potatoes didn't bother me. Otherwise, this was scrumptious.
I'll definitely make it again, minus the plantains - sorry if I'm destroying the recipe.
the best we have this at least once a month, very good with collard greens !
Ilana! I forgot about this recipe and how delicious it is until I saw this just now. Wish you were here to share the thanksgiving feast with Liz and I!