African Veggie Stew – A Flavour Combo to Expand Baby’s Taste Buds

One of the wonderful things about the internet is the way it allows us to share and exchange information with parents all over the world.  

Our family has always enjoyed trying foods from other cultures and our children enjoy all sort of exotic dishes… from Middle Eastern felafel and Indian curries to Greek Salad and Chinese noodles!

Trying foods and flavour combinations from different countries and cultures is what makes the world of food constantly fresh and exciting… and in our opinion, you can never start too early!

Following a few emails from visitors in Africa, today we’re sharing with you a recipe for OUR take on an African vegetable stew.

This meal mixes together savoury and sweet flavours (with a touch of heat if desired) and also delivers masses of nutrients.

Our little ones love the fruitiness of this recipe – however, out of necessity we have to make one modification.

The recipe calls for a yam, but we can’t often get them, so we use a sweet potato instead (and no, they are NOT the same thing – see our post What’s the Difference Between a Sweet Potato and a Yam? for more information).

The results are a little sweeter (sweet potatoes are naturally sweeter than yams, so may hold an even greater appeal for the little ones) but equally yummy.

Tip: this dish makes a satisfying vegetarian meal if you substitute veggie stock or water for the chicken stock – but you could always add a little chopped cooked chicken if your baby enjoys meat.

This recipe is ideal from around 8-10 months of age onwards – you can either chop all of the ingredients to a manageable size or run the cooked mixture through a blender (although you may need to add a little extra stock to get the right texture).

To Make African Veggie Stew for Your Baby You Will Need…

2 tsp oil
1 onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 small yam (or 1 medium sweet potato), peeled, quartered and sliced
1 medium tomato, seeds removed and chopped
2 tbsp raisins
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional – cayenne pepper is hot!)
12 fl oz (1 1/2 cups) low sodium or homemade chicken stock
8 oz (1 cup) cooked chickpeas/garbanzo beans – you can use canned, but look for a low sodium variety and rinse well
2 handfuls of fresh spinach, chopped

Heat the oil in a pan and cook the onion slices for several minutes until tender.

Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.

Add the yam (or sweet potato) and tomato and cook for a few minutes.

Pour in the stock and add the raisins, allspice and cayenne pepper (if using).

Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover.

Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the chickpeas and spinach, raise the heat and cook for a few more minutes.

Your delicious African veggie stew is now ready to serve and is wonderful with brown rice!

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