I don’t talk much — OK, hardly at all, about my personal beliefs, and I’m not about to start. But I really enjoy the connection between the fall harvest, symbolic foods, and the Rosh Hashanah holiday, which begins on Wednesday night this week.
Recreating dishes my mom made (veganized, of course), and borrowing holiday foods from the Sephardic tradition brings such comfort in these complicated times. In today’s What to Eat installment, I’ll be including Seven Vegetable Couscous, a colorful Sephardic dish traditional to Rosh Hashanah, but you can enjoy it even if you don’t celebrate the holiday.
Are you celebrating Rosh Hashanah this week? Here’s a roundup of vegan recipes and menus for the holiday.
We’re going to start with a perfect summer-to-fall segue, Harvest Sweet Potato Stew with Fresh Greens and Corn. This recipe comes from my latest, Vegan Soups and Stews for All Seasons (5th edition), and I’d like to say thank you to VegNews for including it in their selection of The 8 Best Fall Reads for Food Lovers. I was excited to see this roundup pop up in my alerts this morning!
This week, we’re going to celebrate the early fall harvest with …
Harvest Sweet Potato Stew with Fresh Greens and Corn
Seven Vegetable Couscous
Balsamic-Roasted Ratatouille
Skillet Black Beans with Sweet Potatoes and Corn Tortillas
*** Bonus: A trio of simple slaw recipes from Vegetariana
Harvest Sweet Potato Stew with Fresh Greens and Corn
This lively sweet potato stew features hardy greens, fresh corn, summer squash, and tomatoes. It’s a fantastic dish to make when the last of local summer corn intersects with the first autumnal cravings for sweet potatoes.
If you can score the ingredients while you’re out and about today, can I suggest making it this evening? You’ll enjoy the fruits (or, more accurately vegetables) of your labor as leftovers tomorrow, as this stew flavors as it stands.
Use your favorite greens: Though this stew works equally well with any of the hardy greens — kale, chard, or collards — my favorite for this stew are the latter.
Complete the meal: Do you know what goes so well with this stew? Fully Loaded Vegan Nachos, which is kind of a yummy appetizer and healthy salad rolled into one super-easy to prepare dish.
This makes 6 to 8 servings. For more tips and the printable recipe card, see the full post.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium-large red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large or 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
32-ounce carton vegetable broth
10 to 12 ounces hardy greens (collard greens, kale, or green chard)
2 cups fresh corn kernels (from 3 medium ears)
1 medium yellow summer squash, diced
2 cups diced ripe tomatoes or 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons all-purposed seasoning blend (like Mrs. Dash)
1 teaspoon ground cumin, or more, to taste
1/4 to 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro or parsley, to taste
Dried hot red pepper flakes or sriracha, to taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
Heat the oil in a soup pot. Add the onion and sauté over medium-low heat until translucent. Add the garlic and continue to sauté until both are golden.
Add the sweet potatoes and broth. Bring to a gentle boil, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut the greens away from the stems. Stack several leaves at a time, roll up snugly from the narrow end closest to you, then cut them into thin strips. Chop the strips in a few places to shorten them. Give them a good rinse in a colander. Chard stems may be thinly sliced and used; discard kale and collard stems.
Once the the sweet potatoes are nearly tender, stir in the greens, corn, squash, tomatoes, and cumin. Continue to simmer until the greens and corn are just tender, about 10 minutes. Mash some of the sweet potato dice with the back of a wooden spoon to thicken the base.
Stir in the cilantro and add just enough red pepper to give the stew a subtle heat. Season with salt and pepper. Serve at once, or, if time allows, let the stew stand off the heat for an hour or two. Heat through before serving.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Vegan Atlas to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.