West African Peanut Stew, Revisited

So we've been down this road before, using a recipe that was just way too peanut buttery.  One night this week, I asked Chris if he had any dinner requests, and he emailed me.... the exact same too-peanut-buttery West African Peanut Stew recipe.  But luckily for us, Katelyn suggested a similar but much better recipe in the comments after the first go-round, so I turned the that one for inspiration, and it was fantastic.   I messed with quantities some, so here's what I did with it:

1.  Dice an onion and 2 small sweet potatoes into very small dice.  Toss them into some coconut oil on medium-high heat to soften.  When they are close, add 2 tsp of diced garlic as well.

2.  Add 1 can fire-roasted tomatoes, 1 can drained chickpeas, 6 cups veg broth, 4 TB natural peanut butter,  2 TB coconut milk, a squirt of ginger from a tube, 1 TB each red curry and garam masala, 2 tsp cayenne, and 1 tsp cinnamon, and some torn kale if you like your vitamins.  Simmer till done.

It's spicy, brothy, savory, and a total winner - thanks sister!  

Brussels Sprouts & Orecchiette

Another way to use your roasted brussels sprouts:

First roast the sprouts - toss them in a lot of oil and salt and bake at 315 for a very long time (I did mine for two hours, but they were whoppers).  When they are dark and crispy on the outside, remove from the oven. 

Boil a bag of orecchiette while toasting pine nuts and  a container of baby tomatoes in the toaster.  Chop all the roasted sprouts into quarters.  When the pasta is done, toss it all together with some grated nutty white cheese.  You want about the same amount of sprouts as of pasta.  

Lemony Wild Rice & Brussels Sprouts

Tonight I roasted brussels sprouts like this (halve; toss in lemon olive oil and tons of salt; bake at 315 for about an hour) and tossed them with northern wild rice (the kind with the super long, black grains), the juice of a meyer lemon, and grated aged gouda.  Super satisfying on a snowy night.