11.15.2007

Curried Mustard Greens & Garbanzo Beans with Sweet Potatoes

Oh my yum. I am so in love with what I just ate - another 5-star dish from the World's Healthiest Foods website. Who knew that eating well could be so ridiculously tasty?

The texture of this dish is just amazing... and the color is exciting... and the flavor of the sweet potatoes (I know, not again... but they're so good), curry and tomatoes blends together well.

You wouldn't guess that mustard leaves would be at all enjoyable, but surprise, they are! Greens are highly underrated. My family makes endive soup at Christmastime and when I was little they told me it was made with grass clippings - because that's pretty much what cooked greens look like. I couldn't get past that for a while and it wasn't until just recently that I realized endive soup is one of my favorites. We just don't usually cook with greens and I'm not sure why. This recipe is a good reason to start changing that (oh, and also they're really good for you).

Notes (i.e. the boring stuff):
I used 3 big sweet potatoes and a almost a whole can of broth (the sauteing method seems to use up much more than just a tablespoon - maybe it's just me). I doubled the turmeric and curry powder. For more protein, I would recommend using another can of garbanzos. I thought I would need an electric mixer for the sweet potatoes but you can easily mash them with a spoon. Also, I have no steamer. So I just put 2" or so of water in a pot and cooked them for about 15 minutes - then let them sit until I finished everything else. Use a deeper skillet - the greens take up a lot of room until they start to wilt.


Prep and Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and sliced thin
  • 1 medium onion cut in half and sliced thin
  • 3 medium cloves garlic, sliced
  • 1 TBS + 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
  • ½ tsp curry powder
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • 1 bunch mustard greens, rinse, remove stems and chop
  • 1 15oz can diced tomatoes
  • 1 15oz can garbanzo beans, drained
  • 3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and white pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Bring water to a boil in a steamer with a tight fitting lid. Peel and slice sweet potatoes in fairly thin slices so they will steam quickly, 5-10 minutes.
  2. While steaming potatoes, slice onion and garlic. Heat 1 TBS broth in 12inch skillet. Sauté onion in broth over medium heat for about 4-5 minutes stirring frequently, until translucent. Add 1/4 cup broth, garlic, curry powder, turmeric, and mustard greens. Cook stirring occasionally until mustard greens are wilted, about 5 minutes. Add garbanzo beans, diced tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes.
  3. Mash sweet potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper. If you need to thin potatoes more you can add a little broth. Serve mustard greens with mashed sweet potatoes.

    Serves 4

Healthy Cooking Tips:

When sweet potatoes are steamed, they pick up some moisture from the water. You should only need a little olive oil when mashing them. Mash well with the oil before adding any more liquid, otherwise they may be soggy.

Nutritional Profile