West African Peanut Stew

Using spices like cumin, coriander and ginger is incredibly good for our well-being. When cooking we have a tendency to use very small amounts, our in-house Nutritional Therapist Alice Yeates says "don’t be shy, get on and use a decent quantity of spices when cooking, it will truly support your health."

Here's how:

Fresh coriander supports the production of digestive enzymes and promotes a friendly environment for beneficial gut bacteria to flourish. Coriander seeds have been shown to help the body to metabolise sugar more efficiently.

Cumin has been shown to take on “free radicals” and therefore helps with inflammation. It also promotes healthy digestion. Cumin contains iron and supports healthy blood sugar.

Butternut squash is rich in nutrients and low in calories. As with all our orange-coloured vegetables, it is high in Vitamin A which supports our immune system, cell growth and the health of our eyes.

Alice also shares that "the proviso on this recipe is to use good quality peanut butter with no sugar, look at the label and make sure that sugar is not on the ingredients list!!".

This recipe is a real winter warmer and serves 4.

Ingredients

• 2 onions, 1 roughly chopped and 1 diced

• 5cm piece of ginger, roughly chopped

• 3 cloves garlic

• 1 chilli

• 4 tbsp tomato purée

• 150g crunchy peanut butter (100% peanuts)

• Olive oil

• 2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and crushed

• 2 tsp ground cumin

• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

• 100g coconut cream

• 750ml vegetable stock

• 600g squash, cut into 3cm chunks

• 250g kale, green beans or other green veg

• coriander & lime wedges to serve

• 4 baking potatoes, baked!

Method

• Step 1: Put the roughly chopped onion, ginger, garlic, scotch bonnet, tomato purée and peanut butter in a food processor, and whizz to a paste.

• Step 2: Heat a large casserole dish over medium heat and add 2 tbsp of olive oil. As you add more ingredients, the dish is going to start being too small! Start with a large dish

• Step 3:Fry the diced onion with a pinch of salt for 5 minutes until softened. Then add the spices and fry for a minute, then stir in the peanut paste and fry for 5 minutes.

• Step 4: Stir in the coconut cream and stock, bring to a simmer and bubble for 10 minutes until fragrant and reduced a little.

• Step 5: Stir the squash chunks into the sauce, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

• Step 6: Add the kale and/or other greens, and cook for another 10 minutes – with the lid off if you prefer a thicker sauce.

Plate up with the baked potato, scatter with coriander to serve, with lime wedges for squeezing.