Monday, June 11, 2012

Pineapple Peanut Butter Stew

Yeah, the title sounds funny but when you try this dish it will knock your socks, or flip flops, off!  I have been making this for 12+ years and it hasn't gotten old.  I also don't remember where I got the recipe and I'm sure it has changed over time.  One of the best things is that this takes less than 20 minutes to make so it's a wonderful week night side or main dish.  And best of all my two year old loves it!

Saturday we spent the cool part of the morning at the farm picking veggies, then went to Broom's Bloom Dairy for some wonderful local ice cream.



I brought home enough swiss chard to make this stew but you could also make it with kale.  That bucket is full of kale and night by night it is dwindling down as I make batch after batch of Kale Chips.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1-3 cloves garlic, diced
14 oz can of crushed pineapple
2 bunches of swiss chard, about 1/2-3/4 lb
1/2 c crunchy natural peanut butter
1 tsp. chili sauce, like sriracha (optional)
1/4 c. chopped cilantro (optional)


In a large pan saute the onions in olive oil for 3-5 minutes, do not brown.  Add garlic and cook 30 seconds.  Add swiss chard (or other greens), whole can of pineapple with it's juice and the peanut butter.  Cover and let steam 5 minutes.

 


Uncover and stir in chili sauce if you are using it.  Taste the greens to make sure they are the texture you like them.  If not cook for a few more minutes covered.  Serve with cilantro on the side and top as needed.   



You can use almost any green with this recipe but the tougher ones will need to be steamed a little longer to soften them up.  I've used swiss chard, kale, and collard greens.  Don't worry about them being bitter because the pineapple and peanut butter take care of that.

We often eat this as a main dish and will sometimes just add extra firm tofu cubes to round it out a bit.

The main field at the farm is growing some nice soybeans too:


I wish you enough!