I can't tell you how many times I've made this amazing modified Ugandan recipe over the past nine years. I used to have a roommate whose boyfriend (now husband) would cook with us three nights a week. We'd trade off and make sure there was a hot, homecooked meal on the table. It was a genius plan, and since the BF was vegetarian and we lived in a village (popluation 500) in the middle of the Mississippi Delta, it was also kind of necesary if he was going to eat anything other than french fries or mushroom quesadillas. Anyway, this recipe came out of his
Best of Vegetarian Times cookbook, and it was AMAZING. Super filling, pretty healthy, and gorgeous. I can't believe it took me so long to share it with you since the basis of the recipe is sweet potatoes and the magic comes from a special peanut-sauce.
And this brings me to something else...something we haven't discussed in a little while on the blog (though a lot in real life). Thanks to some articles (
#1,
#2,
#3) floating around FB, I've been thinking about cultural appropriation a lot this week.
Food Historian Michael Twitty has some pretty important things to say about it, and if you haven't read or heard his thoughts on the importance of giving respect and credit (and more importantly, actual compensation) to those women (and men) who played HUGE ENORMOUS roles in the creation of the rich, diverse, amalgam that is southern food today, then you should.
The truth
is, southern food is my cultural heritage, too. I don't think that I can't appropriate something that is part of my own family and personal history, but if I'm not conscious, I can further
strip recognition away from the enslaved black southerners whose heritage it is,
as well. And that's not ok with me. There's already been too much taken.
Although my ancestors played some role in the creation and certainly, of the popularization of southern food, it's not
solely theirs. Take sweet potatoes for instance... although a food
native to America, they were made staples of southerners' diets because
African enslaved cooks were familiar with yams (not the same plant, it
turns out, but similar) and used them in their recipes.
So then, what to do? What I've been thinking though, is that AT LEAST I have to
#1 Give credit where credit is due
#2 KNOW something about the origins of the food I eat and cook (ESPECIALLY if I'm benefiting in some way by cooking or serving or photographing or sharing it)
#3 Frequently financially support institutions owned and operated by African American chefs, farmers, cooks, and restaurant owners so that they benefit MORE from the food legacy that their ancestors pioneered and weren't allowed to benefit from.
What else?
Sweet Potatoes, Spinach, Chickpeas with Ugandan G-nut Sauce
Serves 4
A Note:
Now, on to this delicious vegetarian bowl of goodness. As I mentioned above, it's Ugandan in origin as something like peanuts (or ground nuts, aka
g-nuts) are often used as a sauce for fish, meat, and yams. The gnut sauce is TRULY delicious, and when mixed with the other ingredients, it's divine, and since
peanuts have been important to the south since the Tuskeegee Institute and George Washington Carver determined they made a great cash crop (AND found 300 different things to do with them!) this recipe feels like a southern dish to me. It's not, but it's origin in Africa and the way V
eg. Times modified it to include southern staples just feels right to me. Also, get ready to dirty up A LOT of pots. There's really just no way around it.
What You Need:
For The Dish
2 Medium to Large Sweet potatoes
1 can of chickpeas (drained)
5-10 oz of fresh spinach (washed)
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 medium onion, minced
¼ tsp. salt
For the Sauce
1/8 cup peanut butter (creamy)
1 cup broth (I used homemade vegetable broth, but if you aren't vegetarian, chicken stock will do)
1 Tablespoon tomato paste (or pureed and reduced canned tomatoes if you're in a bind like me)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp. oil
What to Do:
Preheat your oven to 415 degrees and prick your potatoes with a fork. lay them on aluminum foil or in a skillet to bake them for an hour (you can also microwave them if you're in a hurry, but I prefer the sweetness of slow baking)
Combine the broth, the peanut butter, the tomato paste, your lemon juice and garlic in a
pan, and simmer over low heat 1 to 2 minutes.
While that's happening, heat your oil in large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until it's translucent, then add chickpeas, and sauté a bit more. Stir in the spinach, reduce heat to low, and simmer 3 to 5 minutes,
or until spinach is very wilted.
Once that's done, and your potatoes are done baking, take the potatoes out of the oven and scoop out the flesh into a pot or bowl. Add the Cumin, salt, and pepper.
Once you've finished ALL the three lovely, delicious pieces, layer the potatoes, spinach, and sauce in a shallow bowl and serve. You can garnish with some salty crushed peanuts.
Labels: Entree, fall, nuts, southern culture, vegetables, Vegetarian, weight watchers, winter
