M'chicha Wa'nazi ( Spinach in Peanut Coconut Sauce )

Here's a delicious, simple way to serve spinach. It doesn't look so flash, especially with my typical lack of presentation, but it's very tasty and a great vegetarian comfort food for a rainy day like we've been having so many of. This is dish from Tanzania I found in one of my favourite cookbooks 'World Vegetarian Classics' by Celia Brooks Brown. Firstly, I love that everything I've made from this book has been great, but it also has the benefit of featuring authentic vegetarian dishes, not just adapted meat dishes, so they really stand up on their own. It also doesn't assume you can get hold of every exotic ingredient so provides lots of more easily accessible alternatives.

700g / 1 1½ lb fresh spinach, trimmed and thoroughly washed (or the equivalent in frozen spinach)

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp / 30g / 1oz  butter

1 large onion, chopped

1-2 fresh red chillies, deseeded if large, finely chopped

½ cup / 70 g / 2 ¾oz roasted peanuts

1 cup / 250g / 8 fl oz coconut cream

Place the spinach and salt in a large saucepan with a lid. Cover and place over medium heat. Use tongs to turn the spinach from time to time, until it is fully collapsed and wilted (or thawed, if using frozen). Drain thoroughly in a colander, then use a potato masher to push out as much moisture as possible. Cool slightly, then chop coarsely.

Return the pan to a low-medium heat and add the butter. When the butter has melted, add the onion and chillies and cook until the onion is soft and translucent.

Puree the peanuts with the coconut cream in a blender until fairly smooth. Pour into the saucepan, add a good pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir the spinach through the sauce until piping hot, then serve. Alternatively, reheat the spinach and serve with sauce poured over. This should be eaten with some sort of African mash (see below).

My Mash with what I had on had used potatoes, sweet potatoes and red kidney beans (for extra protein) but the book pairs it with any of three mashes from Africa: 

Irio, a dish from the Kikuyu tribe in Kenya. Irio is essentially mashed potatoes with kidney beans, corn and greens mashed in. 

Matoke banana mash from Uganda: In a saucepan place 4 unripe bananas/plantains (or 10-12 matoke bananas if you can find them), peeled and broken into pieces; 1 large tomato, finely chopped; 1 medium onion, finely chopped; ⅔ cup / 150 ml / 5 fl oz water; and ½ teaspoon of salt. Simmer, uncovered, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the bananas are very soft. Remove from the heat, add 1 Tbsp / 15 g /½oz butter and mash until smooth.

Or Ugali cornmeal mash which is a staple throughout Africa south of the Sahara:

Use a ratio of 1:1½ white cornmeal to water. Combine in a saucepan with salt, bring to the boil and cook, stirring regularly, for 20-30 minutes until creamy but stiff; add butter and serve with stew.

Corn Chowder

Another great recipe from Celia Brooks Brown's 'World Vegetarian Classics' It's creamy, filling and of course very tasty! I liked adding the corn kernels at the end as they keep their colour, flavour and add some nice texture.
The only thing I did different was to add some grilled red pepper (capsicum) on top - because they were on special and I liked the colour!

So here is her recipe representing New England, USA (interestingly, representing NZ was also corn - corn fritters)

Corn Chowder
Serves 6

4 fresh corn-on-the-cob (ears of fresh corn)
500ml/ 16 fl oz/ 2 cups water
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
2 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 t dried sage, crushed
1 t fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 t dried thyme
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 celery sticks (stalks) chopped
1 large potato, peeled and chopped
200g/ 7 oz/ generous 3/4 c cream cheese
125 ml/ 4 fl oz/ 1/2 c milk

In a large bowl, stand each corn-on-the-cob upright and strip the kernels by cutting downwards with a sharp knife, set aside. Place the stripped cobs in a large saucepan and add the water, a generous sprinkle of salt and the bay leaves. Bring to the boil and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Discard the cobs and bay leaves.

Heat the oil in a separate saucepan. Add the onion and cook until translucent (soft and becoming see-through). Add the herbs and remaining vegetables and cook for about 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the cob stock and simmer until the potato is collapsing. Meanwhile, place the corn kernels in another saucepan amd pour in enough cold water to barely cover. Bring to the boil and cook for two minutes. Do not drain; set aside.

Add the cream cheese and milk to the soup mixture, then puree until smooth, ideally with a hand-held blender. Stir in the corn kernels with their cooking liquid. Give the chowder one more whizz if desired, to break up corn kernels slightly. Reheat and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.