West African Style Sweet Potato Leaves
A rich dish of stewed sweet potato leaves with an aromatic base of onions, garlic, ginger and eggplant cooked in palm oil and thickened with peanut butter. This is a half batch, feel free to double it.
Servings: 2 People
Calories: 275kcal
Equipment
- 1 3 quart sauce pot
Ingredients
Aromatic Base
- 2 oz (1 medium) shallot quartered
- 1 1x1 inch square fresh ginger peeled
- 2 large cloves garlic crushed with the back of a knife
- 4 oz leek or onion or a combination
- 4 oz peeled Japanese eggplant optional
- 2 tablespoon African palm oil see note
Final Stewed Greens
- 8 oz sweet potato greens picked
- ½ cup strong homemade meat stock see note
- 1 small habanero pepper optional
- 1 large roma tomato blanched, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
- 1 handful fresh cilantro or basil roughly chopped, optional
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt plus more to taste, depending on the saltiness of your stock
Instructions
Aromatic Base
- Process the garlic, shallot, leek or onion and eggplant in a food processor until smooth.
- Heat the palm oil in a wide pan and add the pureed aromatics and a pinch of salt. bring to a simmer and cook slowly until all the water's evaporated and the oil's begun to separate.
Sweet Potato Leaves
- While the aromatic base cooks, process the greens. You're trying to approximate the texture of ground, minced, or pounded leaves. Pulse them until they're finely chopped.
Final Stewed Greens
- Add the stock to the aromatic base, along with the peanut butter, scotch bonnet or habanero, and chopped tomato.
- Add the greens, bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the greens are just tender and you can see the bottom of the pan when stirring.
- Double check the seasoning and adjust for salt and heat to taste. Discard the hot pepper if using and serve with rice, or another vehicle for scooping up the greens, like fufu.
- I really like serving the stewed greens with steamed, sliced sweet potatoes. If you can find the white or purple ones at an Ethnic grocer they're more firm than the watery orange variety most Americans know.
Video
Notes
There's only a little stock in this recipe, so you want to make sure it's very good. A batch I made with brisket drippings is probably my favorite to date. Traditionally, you might see it made with dried fish or crayfish ground to a powder and boiled in water to add flavor. If you can get a couple shrimp heads or lobster shell pieces to use in a stock, it will greatly enhance the dish.
Nutrition
Serving: 8oz | Calories: 275kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 402mg | Potassium: 1069mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 5551IU | Vitamin C: 35mg | Calcium: 149mg | Iron: 3mg