stew

The new year is already a week old, today was my fourth work day again, and the weather is the typical Dutch winter drizzle, with rather moderate temperatures, but lots of precipitation. When biking home tonight, the wind and rain in my face, I was thinking of the soup recipe I had read earlier in the day and was really looking forward to making it. But above all, to eating it.

As usual, I didn't follow through with it item by item, but made my little individual tweaks and improvisations, such as replacing the honey they were advocating by agave syrup and the stock with veggie boullion, and - revolution! - not pureeing the whole batch when it was ready, but instead leaving the ingredients whole and thus changing it from a creamy vegetable soup to something like a meatless stew.

Watch out, here comes the modified version:

3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 cm piece of root ginger, peeled and grated
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp hot paprika powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
600 g chickpeas (canned or boiled)
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp agave syrup
1.5 liter vegetable bouillon
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
300g fresh wild spinach, chopped in thumb-sized pieces

• Heat the oil in a large soup pot and gently fry the onion for about 2 minutes on medium heat.
• Add the sweet potato, garlic and ginger and fry for a further minute or two. Add the cumin, cinnamon, cayenne and mustard seeds and cook for 2 minutes, gently stirring the mixture all the time.
• Stir in the chickpeas, the tomatoes and the agave syrup and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Stir in the stock and bring the mixture to the boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the sweet potato is tender. Season with salt and black pepper.
• Stir in the spinach leaves and cook for a further minute or two until the spinach is wilted.
• Serve hot. Makes about 8 bowls.

It was utterly delicious. I ate three bowls - not because I was that hungry, but because I couldn't get enough from the heavenly spices (oh - cinnamon! oh - ginger!) and the fantastic oriental taste. And did I mention that I just love chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and spinach, but never ate them together yet?

We still have quite a bit left, now resting in the fridge, and I am already looking forward to taking it to the office on Wednesday (tomorrow we have a department New Year's lunch, so I don't need to bring my own food).

Also: Definitely worth repeating.

The new year is already a week old, today was my fourth work day again, and the weather is the typical Dutch winter drizzle, with rather moderate temperatures, but lots of precipitation. When biking home tonight, the wind and rain in my face, I was thinking of the soup recipe I had read earlier in the day and was really looking forward to making it. But above all, to eating it.

As usual, I didn't follow through with it item by item, but made my little individual tweaks and improvisations, such as replacing the honey they were advocating by agave syrup and the stock with veggie boullion, and - revolution! - not pureeing the whole batch when it was ready, but instead leaving the ingredients whole and thus changing it from a creamy vegetable soup to something like a meatless stew.

Watch out, here comes the modified version:

3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 cm piece of root ginger, peeled and grated
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp hot paprika powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
600 g chickpeas (canned or boiled)
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp agave syrup
1.5 liter vegetable bouillon
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
300g fresh wild spinach, chopped in thumb-sized pieces

• Heat the oil in a large soup pot and gently fry the onion for about 2 minutes on medium heat.
• Add the sweet potato, garlic and ginger and fry for a further minute or two. Add the cumin, cinnamon, cayenne and mustard seeds and cook for 2 minutes, gently stirring the mixture all the time.
• Stir in the chickpeas, the tomatoes and the agave syrup and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Stir in the stock and bring the mixture to the boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the sweet potato is tender. Season with salt and black pepper.
• Stir in the spinach leaves and cook for a further minute or two until the spinach is wilted.
• Serve hot. Makes about 8 bowls.

It was utterly delicious. I ate three bowls - not because I was that hungry, but because I couldn't get enough from the heavenly spices (oh - cinnamon! oh - ginger!) and the fantastic oriental taste. And did I mention that I just love chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and spinach, but never ate them together yet?

We still have quite a bit left, now resting in the fridge, and I am already looking forward to taking it to the office on Wednesday (tomorrow we have a department New Year's lunch, so I don't need to bring my own food).

Also: Definitely worth repeating.

stew