Tin Can Cook - Black Bean & Peanut Stew ...with Coriander

Tin Can Cook by Jack Munroe. I have been quite excited about receiving this book... I pre-ordered it some time ago and when I finally received it last week, I immediately went through and made a list of the recipes I wanted to try out!

I like the fact that the book has a heavy leaning towards vegetarian recipes because I do try to only eat meat a couple of times a week. Most of the recipes are very simple with just a few ingredients which, for me, means there's plenty of scope to add your own preferences and/or modifications.

The Black Bean & Peanut Stew (page 70) ended up becoming my first dinner from the book, predominantly because I already had everything apart from the beans and spinach, so annoyingly, I still had the dreaded trip to Waitrose. I did need toilet roll anyway, so there was no avoiding it really.

For the peanut butter, I used some Meridian Peanut Butter that nobody likes the taste of on toast because it's too healthy, i.e. no added salt or sugar. I really fancied some coriander with it, so this, along with some sorry looking tomatoes cowering in the bottom of the fridge, led to me modifying the recipe slightly.

Here are my changes:

1. 1 teaspoon of dried coriander instead of paprika.

2. Coconut oil for frying.

3. 3 "fresh" tomatoes, finely chopped.

4. 1 teaspoon Marigold vegetable stock.

5. 1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes for a little kick.

6. Chopped, fresh Coriander.

Black Bean & Peanut Stew ...with Coriander

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 x medium onion, finely diced

1 x 400g tin of black beans (drain & rinse)

1 teaspoon coconut oil

1 teaspoon dried coriander

1 x 400g tin coconut milk

3 x tomatoes, finely diced

1 teaspoon Marigold vegetable stock

2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

2 tablespoons tomato puree

1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

100g fresh green beans (steamed for 8 minutes & set aside)

50g fresh baby spinach (roughly chopped)

handful of fresh coriander (roughly chopped)

120g basmati rice

salt & pepper

Method:

- Rinse the rice, cover with cold water and cook for 20 minutes (or follow packet instructions).

- Heat the oil in a large frying pan.

- Add the onion and fry gently until soft (3-5 minutes).

- Throw in the black beans, dried coriander, chopped tomatoes, dried chilli & tomato puree.

- Pour in the coconut milk and 125ml water. Add the vegetable stock powder, peanut butter and mix everything up.

- Allow to gently simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure it's not sticking to the bottom of the pan.

- Add the green beans, spinach and half the chopped coriander and stir through until the spinach has wilted. 

- Serve on the basmati rice and sprinkle over the remaining coriander.

Verdict:

A nice easy recipe that's very satisfying and nutritious. It's actually very filling and the portion sizes are generous.

I'm really looking forward to trying out some of the other recipes... I'm eyeing up "Cannellini Beurre Blanc"... I think there's something for everyone in this book so I please support Jack's amazing work and buy now!

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