Coconutty Beans & Greens

Some may remember a 9-month period where A and I attempted to be vegan (at least at home). It introduced me to a lot of new recipes and was a good way for us to be a little more mindful of how much meat we have in our diet, and we still mostly use milk substitutes at home now (A is particularly fond of coconut milk for the flavor it adds to his teas and coffees).

This recipe happens to be vegan, but I think it's so flavorful that it beats a lot of non-vegan recipes for me. A feature by Zaynab Issa, associate food editor at Bon Appetit, says this is a take on mbaazi wa nazi, an East African pigeon pea dish, so I should clearly go seek that out as this dish was a big hit. The picture above shows how many jars of this are ready to go for quick lunches during the week.

Coconutty Beans and Greens

Adapted from Bon Appetit, February 2023 issue

6 servings

Ingredients

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

1 plum tomato, coarsely chopped

3 garlic cloves

1 1" piece ginger, scrubbed

2 red Thai chilies (I bought a fairly large size bag of frozen ones at the Asian grocery and so always have them in the freezer)

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp kosher salt

1 13.5oz can of unsweetened coconut milk

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and sliced into 1/4" rounds and then quartered 

1 16oz package baby spinach & kale (my substitution for chard)

2 15oz cans navy beans (a substitution for cannellini, butter or gigante beans)

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Optional: baguette

Method

1. Puree onion, tomato, garlic, ginger and chiles in a blender until smooth. I had to add 1/4 cup of water to get this to work, but it's fine, it cooks off in the next step.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a deep pot over medium heat. Add blender mixture and 1/2 tsp salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until moisture is evaporated and mixture is paste-like in consistency and beginning to stick to bottom of pot.
3. Stir in coriander, cumin, and 1/2 tsp salt. Pour in coconut milk and 2 cups water and stir to combine. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to buil. Add sweet potato and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 10-12 minutes.
4. Add beans, spinach and kale and cook, stirring occasionally, until spinach and kale is wilted, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Taste and add more salt and lemon juice as needed.
5. Spoon into bowls and serve. If using baguette, slice it and toast it in a pan with a small amount of oil, then serve on the side of bowls.