Batch cooking is perhaps one of the easiest ways to ensure a ready supply of nutritious food straight from the fridge. One small effort a week can quickly amount to a week’s worth of lunches. This veggie stew is a solid batch cook dish whilst also ticking plenty of health boxes with a variety of nutrient-dense veg and good sources of protein.
Peanut butter may sound like an odd choice to include but actually it’s a common ingredient in African cooking. It adds creaminess and sweetness without overwhelming the dish, a little bit like adding sour cream would.
It’s an all-around tasty dish that’ll keep you fuelled all week long.

Ingredients for 4 (or 1 plus 3 lunches)
400g sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 red onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 courgette, cubed
1 red pepper, cubed
2 tins of chopped tomato
1 tin of kidney beans
100g of spinach
2 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of chipotle paste
sea salt and black pepper to season
good quality rapeseed oil to cook

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Put the cubed sweet potato on a baking tray with a drizzle of rapeseed oil, season with sea salt and black
pepper and roast until you cook the rest of the dish.
Put a large saucepan on a medium heat with a tablespoon of rapeseed oil.
Add the onion and garlic, lower the heat to low, pop a lid on the pan and cook until the onion has softened, around 5 minutes.
Take the lid off, turn the heat back up to medium, season with sea salt and black pepper and add the spices (cumin, coriander, paprika, chipotle paste). Stir for a minute to combine.
Add the courgettes and pepper and cook for a further 5 minutes to soften the veg slightly.
Pour in the chopped tomato, season again with salt & pepper and cook on a low heat, without a lid, for 25 minutes. This should soften the veg and reduce the sauce.
At the end of the cooking time, stir in the peanut butter, kidney beans, roasted sweet potato and spinach and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Check that it’s seasoned to your liking and add more sea salt and black pepper if required.
Serve topped with sour cream, fresh coriander and toasted seeds (all optional).