Recipe: Green Banana & Black Bean Stew

Green bananas are an excellent ingredient for a warming stew. Combined with black beans, they drive away thoughts of the wet and cold spectacle that takes place outside our windows in winter. Recipe by Anna Lena Schmidt, Anna.Culina

Ingredients

• 2 jars/cans of cooked black beans, drained (approx. 400g)
• 4 green bananas
• 1 green bell pepper, cubed
• 1 medium onion, peeled and cubed
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 red chili, finely minced
• 1 piece of ginger, grated (1-2 Tbsp)
• 3 large chard leaves
• 1⁄2 bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 800g canned chopped tomatoes
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1⁄2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 240 ml 1 cup water

Zubereitung

1. Peel bananas and cut into 3 cm thick slices*. Separate the stem from the chard leaves and slice stem thinly and leaves roughly. Prepare the rest of the ingredients as described above.
2. Heat up a large saucepan and add sunflower oil. Add onion, garlic, ginger, chili and fry until slightly golden, reduce heat and add spices while stirring frequently.
3. Add green bell pepper, sliced chard stem, parsley and green bananas and fry for another 5 min. Add canned tomatoes, water, apple cider vinegar and salt & pepper to taste. Cover with a lid and let simmer for 30 min (at least).
4. Once the bananas are soft, add cooked black beans and sliced chard leaves. Let simmer for another 5 minutes. Adjust the flavour profile to your taste by adding salt & pepper, more apple cider vinegar and maybe a little cayenne pepper for extra heat.
5. Serve in a bowl topped with unsweetened (soy)yogurt and fresh parsley.

*The green bananas are impossible to peel? Simply cut off the ends and then carve them lengthwise once and place them in cold water. After about 20 minutes in a water bath, you can move your fingers better between the peel and the fruit and thus easily loosen them.

This recipe was provided to us by Anna Lena Schmidt from Anna.Culina.