Pumpkin & Peanut Stew 

Pumpkin & Peanut Stew

By: Lee Holmes

This stew is a hearty and flavourful dish that combines tender pumpkin chunks with creamy peanut butter in a rich, savoury broth.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ginger, grated
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1⁄4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional, for heat)
• 500g pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 800mL vegetable broth
• 150g smooth peanut butter
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 150g kale leaves, washed, stems removed & finely chopped
• 100g rocket leaves
• Toasted peanuts, for garnish
• Cooked rice or crusty bread, for serving

Method

• Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 mins.
• Add the onion, garlic and ginger to the pot and cook for another 1-2 mins, until fragrant.
• Stir in the cumin, turmeric and cayenne pepper (if using). Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly to toast the spices.
• Add the pumpkin or butternut squash to the pot, along with the tinned tomatoes and vegetable broth. Stir well to combine.
• Bring the stew to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low.
• Cover and cook for 15-20 mins or until the pumpkin is tender.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the smooth peanut butter with a ladleful of the hot stew liquid until smooth and well combined. Stir the peanut butter mixture into the stew until fully incorporated.
• Add the kale and rocket leaves to the stew and stir until wilted.
• Season the stew with salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve the Pumpkin and Peanut Stew hot, garnished with rocket and toasted peanuts, alongside cooked rice or crusty bread.

Lee Holmes is a nutritionist, yoga and meditation teacher, wholefoods chef, Lifestyle Food Channel’s Healthy Eating Expert, blogger and author of the best-selling books Supercharged Food: Eat Your Way to Health, Supercharged Food: Eat Yourself Beautiful, Eat Clean, Green and Vegetarian, Heal your Gut, Eat Right for Your Shape and Supercharged Food for Kids.

Lee’s food philosophy is all about S.O.L.E. food: sustainable, organic, local and ethical. Her main goal is to alter the perception that cooking fresh, wholesome, nutrient-rich meals is difficult, complicated and time-consuming. From posting recipes, her passion to share her autoimmune disease story and help others has snowballed and the blog has recently taken home the overall prize at the Bupa Health Influencer Awards as well as the best blog in the Healthy Eating category. She also runs a four-week online Heal Your Gut program.