Kale :& chickpea stew
Here’s DJ Food with Stealin Stew
1/2 a large bunch of kale, cooked in salted boiling water for 5 or 10 minutes, till soft but still bright green.
1 cup chickpeas (I used canned, so rinsed and drained)
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/3 inch dice
Olive oil
1 shallot – finely diced
1 large clove garlic – minced
1 t. basil
1/2 t. red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1/2 cup beer
2 T golden raisins, soaked till soft and chopped
1 t. smoked paprika
1 t. cumin
dollop of butter
juice of one lime
salt & pepper
Warm a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic, red pepper and basil and cook till the shallots and garlic start to brown.
Add the sweet potatoes and cook till they start to brown and soften. Add the beer. Cook till it’s thick and syrupy.
Add the chickpeas, paprika, cumin, raisins and about 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and simmer till the sweet potato is nice and soft. You might need to add a cup or two more water as you go along, to keep it a consistency that you like.
Chop the kale into small pieces and add to the stew. Cook until everything is mixed and hot through.
Add the butter and lime juice and season with salt and pepper.
Out of the Ordinary 
Claire, this recipe (with the pumpkin popovers) sounds like the perfect winter meal. I’ll get back to you next Sunday when we test the waters.
Ok, as promised, we had the soup today. It was scrumptuous! I actually made it yesterday and let it marinate overnight. Also, I used water to vegetable broth at a 1:1 ratio. I made the pumpkin popovers as recommended to accompany the soup. I’m wondering if maybe adding a little allspice, clove and/or ginger might spice them up a bit. My popovers had more the consistency of a muffin. I used vegetable oil in lieu of butter in the muffin tins and didn’t heat the tins up (as your recipe calls for to melt the butter) before pouring the batter in. Do you think that may have something to do with the slightly more dense consistency of my popovers?
Hello, Caroline! I’m glad you liked the soup. I think allspice or ginger would be a wonderful addition to the popovers. I’m a huge fan of allspice. As to the consistency…mine were a little denser than ordinary popovers, as well. I think it might be the pumpkin…it’s just a naturally dense consistency! I think it’s worth it for the taste, though. I do think popovers rise higher when the pan is preheated, but they won’t stay risen very long. The nice thing about the muffin-y consistency is that they’re just as good the next day, which popovers generally aren’t. You could also try adding an extra egg – I think that would help. Maybe I’ll try that myself, and let you know how it goes!
Thanks so much for letting me know how it worked out for you! I’m a bit dozy when it comes to remembering how much of everything I used, and remembering how long I cooked everything, so it’s nice to know that it worked out for someone!
Tx Claire. What I forgot to mention about the popovers is that we ate all of them in one sitting! And when I say “we,” that’s just two of us. They were that good!
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I made an alternate version of this stew last night, using chicken broth instead of beer, as well as omitting cumin and using some Valle de Sol chile powder and substituting the butter for a little neufchatel and it was really delicious. Would have loved to try the original recipe but I didn’t have all of the ingredients! I would also like to write about this recipe on my blog if that’s alright with you!
It sounds delicious! I like all of the substitutions that you made. Was it a creamy broth (with the cheese)? Sounds good!
Of course you can write about it on your blog! I’d be honored. If you want to link back to the original recipe, that’s be nice, too.
Thank you!
It wasn’t too creamy, just enough to balance out the tartness of the lime!
Thank you so much! I added a link, you can check out the post here:http://whataboutthepie.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/my-weekend-affair-with-kale/
Can you make this in a crockpot? I’m also going to use baker potatoes and spinach. Do you think those would be ok? I don’t have time to go to the store:)
I’m not an expert on crockpot cooking, but I think it would work. It might be a little softer and thicker, but that would be okay! I’d probably cook it on the stovetop up to the part where you’ve added potatoes and beer, and then dump that in a crockpot with all the other ingredients. I think baker potatoes and spinach would be fine! Let me know how it goes!!
I just made this soup last night. My family is in love with it. Thank you!!!
This was listed under VEGAN recipes but it uses BUTTER?
It would be fine without butter! I just add a bit at the end to bring out the flavors.
Just finished making the stew and it was wonderful! It’s going to become one of my staples for sure!
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