(Updated July 2014) Several years ago, my husband and I were thumbing through Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home when my husband stopped at this recipe and said, “Let’s try this one.” I looked at it. . . and then I looked at him like he was insane. Pineapple, onions, and kale? And peanut butter? What kind of crazy combination is that?
That was before I learned something that D. already knew: Unusual combinations often make the best dishes. We tried this mixture of peanut butter and pineapple, and it was terrific. And it was the first time I really loved kale.
Since then, this dish has become a family favorite, though its higher fat content puts it into the category of “special occasions” for me. I have adapted the recipe to remove the oil in the original, which is really unnecessary for sautéing. And I’ve increased the kale and replaced the cilantro with parsley (because I can’t eat cilantro).
I’ve also managed to reduce the peanut butter on occasion by replacing some or all of it with peanut butter powder. And as of 2014, the most recent change I’ve made is to add chickpeas to make it more filling as my daughter has grown from a child to a young woman. (The original recipe is here, if you’re interested.)
Original Photo without Chickpeas
African Pineapple Peanut Stew
Ingredients
- 1-2 bunches kale or 4-8 cups sliced
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced or pressed
- 1 20-ounce can undrained canned crushed pineapple in juice or about 2 cups with juice
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas optional, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup peanut butter or 1/3 cup peanut butter powder and 1/3 cup water
- 1 tablespoon Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce --I actually use about 3 tablespoons of a favorite Louisiana hot sauce that isn’t as spicy as Tabasco
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley optional
- salt to taste
- crushed skinless peanuts optional
- chopped scallions optional
Instructions
- Prepare the kale by washing it and removing the large center stem from each leaf. Stack the leaves on a cutting board and slice them into one-inch thick slices.
- In a large, covered wok or Dutch oven (non-stick preferred), sauté the onions for about 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic, and stir for another minute.
- Add the pineapple and its juice to the onions and bring to a simmer. Stir in the kale and the chickpeas if you’re using them, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring a couple of times, until just tender. Mix in the peanut butter, Tabasco, and parsley and simmer for 5 minutes. Add salt to taste, and serve topped with crushed peanuts and scallions, over rice or other grain. (This makes about 4 servings without chickpeas or 6 servings with.)
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
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Anonymous
This recipe sounds delicious and I can't wait to try it. Susan, can the peanut butter be replaced with almond butter or a different nut butter?
I love your blog!
Rawket Food
I just made this and it was amazingly fantastic! This will be a keeper in my house for years to come. Even my 6 year old loved it. My husband said it was delicious. No left overs tonight!
D&J
We've made this twice in 2 weeks. It's delish and is a great way to eat Kale, which can be a little too firm and robust for some people.
We DID find it a little too sweet for our palates the first time around, so tonight we included the pineapple WITHOUT the juice and added the juice and half the tomatoes from a can of diced. Success! Grrreat, and no leftovers again.
Thanks for the blog, it's a huge help for our recent transition to vegan.
Andrea Boddam
Well everytime I try to explain this dish to people, I always get a raised brow “Peanutbutter with pineapple… And kale?!” (Okay… a lot of the people I know don’t even know what kale is to be honest… but still)
But both times I’ve made this it has gone over exceptionally well! I tend to add more than the tbsp of hot sauce, but we like things spicy!
Great recipe and site!
Jessica
This dish is amazing. I put it over whole wheat cous cous. Fantastic , thank you.
Jessica
2 Years later and I still love this recipe. Added in some beet greens and azuki beans and chopped jalapenos and put it over millet tonight. Glorious.
elizabeth
You need healthy fat in order to provide satiety as well as to allow necessary nutrients to be absorbed but you know this.
Jen
Thanks for posting this! I used to make this recipe years ago and had lost the printout of the recipe (which listed its origins too). We’ll be having it soon.
Alex
My boyfriend will love this! I like to use him as an excuse to cook, this look so delicious 😀
Originaldave
I was just going to print off this recipe and make it but see there is no link (that I see) for the usual printer friendly version!
SusanV
Hi Dave–Sorry about that! This was posted before I started doing the printer-friendly versions, but I’ve just made one. Click here for the new printer-friendly page.
Angela
Does this recipe freeze well?
SusanV
I’m sorry. I haven’t frozen it, so I just don’t know.
janet
I really liked this unusual stew! I threw in tons of kale and it wilted down nicely. The peanut butter doesn’t make this an every day meal, but it is great if anyone has gotten into a cooking rut!
I wrote about it here: http://tastespace.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/african-pineapple-kale-peanut-stew/
Kim
Hi Susan,
I am wanting to try this recipe, however I’m from Australia and Kale is not widely known here, what do you suggest I can use for a sub?
PS What an amazing site you have here, I rely on it and you are quite an inspiration and I must say I am very thankful for all of your lovely healthy fat free recipes.
SusanV
Thanks for your kind words, Kim! I think any leafy green could be used instead of the kale. If you can get Swiss Chard (silverbeet?), that would probably make the best substitution.
Kim
Many thanks for your response Susan! I will try silverbeet.
Tonight I am making your Spinach & Mushroom Lasanga with Tofu.
Thanks again.
LisaGG
The comments on this made me so curious that I made it tonight, with swiss chard instead of kale, served with coconut rice. It was actually surprisingly good and the flavors melded beautifully. Who would have thought?!
Chef Damien
Blog des régions
Bonjour,
Nous continuons le tour de France des blogueurs région par région.
Nous aimerions que votre blog apparaisse sur ces portraits de régions.
Pouvez vous nous contacter en précisant votre région.
En vous remerciant par avance.
Chef Damien
Megan
We loved this! We kept the cilantro, because we love cilantro, but otherwise followed the changes in this recipe. I’ve never tasted anything quite like this before. The hot sauce is a must, and I’m a wimp about spice, but it gave it such a great flavor.
Dani
I have been browsing your blog for a while, and was originally going to make your Mac N Cheese tonight, but unfortunately my local grocer was out of nutritional yeast- thank goodness for that though, or who knows how long I would have waited before I tried this! The flavors blend SO well- even when I substituted Cajun seasoning for the hot sauce. Thank you so much!
SusanV
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you liked it– one of my family’s favorites.
Julie & Marty
African Pineapple Peanut Stew was the first recipe we tried off your Fat Free Vegan Kitchen website. I decided to go from A to Z in the Main Dishes. My husband is doing most of the cooking and doesn’t like tofu so we are skipping any of those recipes or any recipes where we can’t readily find the ingredients. This stew was FANTASIC! Wow! It is a keeper! I don’t like peanut butter, but it sure made this dish pop!
Lois Gowen
Love this recipe. I’ve been making this with swiss chard. Never have tried kale, but will try it soon.
rachel
This was amazing! 3 big thumbs up from our house.
rozina
Loved this recipe. I cook for 4-5 days together as I am away from home during the week. This recipe worked out perfectly and tasted great each day. Best recipe to get used to eating kale. I increased the tobasco sauce amount to 3 tblspoon to bring out the contrast.
I added butternut squash too to make it a more hearty meal and eat it as is… without any grains.
Tash
This looks really nice…. i have a question…. my partner is allergic to nuts, and peanuts are the worst as you would be aware, i myself don’t like the taste of peanuts bar in a satay, what could i use to replace the peanuts with…. i have had one thought because the smell and taste to me is quite like peanut butter, its the unhulled tahini paste i buy…..would this work as a substitution ????
Susan Voisin
I think tahini would be good, but I would probably reduce the amount to a couple of tablespoons.
Tash
Yes i made that mistake last night when making hummus, the tahini is quite strong….would using tahini instead of pent butter make this lower in fat or would it be about the same???? Sorry for what may sound like a stupid question but as I’m new to being vegan i must ask 🙂 <3
Tash
*peanut sorry keyboard is running slow
Lisa Herman
WOW; this is such a fantastic dish! We loved it! I served it over rice with black
beans and it was awesome!
Kara
I love this recipe! Goes great over quinoa.
Laina
Hi Susan,
Are the calories calculated with rice? Also, are the peanuts roasted or raw and do you roast your own or purchase canned peanuts already roasted?
Thanks so much !!!
Laina 🙂
Susan Voisin
Laina, the calories are without rice. For the peanuts, you could toast raw peanuts or use roasted peanuts from a jar or can. Honestly, I usually omit the peanuts these days and reduce the peanut butter so that it’s not quite as high in calories. I also serve it over quinoa a lot.
Laina
Thanks, Susan. We have a local hfs that allows the customer to make fresh peanut butter. Ummmmmm! I’ll try the recipe with half of what you recommended. But the full amount would be nice for a sometimes meals. 🙂
Also as a FYI, Trader Joe’s has a peanut flour. We don’t have a Trader Joe’s and I read this on a blog.
The person who blogs is a peanut butter lover so to lose weight she tried the PB2 and continued to eat it after she lost her weight. She mentioned it doesn’t taste exactly like peanut butter, but close enough for her tastes.
Then, after hearing of two other products, she decided to do a taste test on all three, and the Trader Joe’s won and is way cheaper than the PB2. One thing she did do is to add her own salt because the Trader Joe’s peanut flour doesn’t have added sodium which is nice for those who want to control their sodium. Another plus, if you have a local Trader Joe’s, is that you can purchase it locally. The PB2 needs to be ordered unless it’s now in grocery stores.
Laina “-)
Susan Voisin
I also wanted to mention that I now add a can of chickpeas to make it go farther and I’ve eliminated the parsley and scallions, and we don’t miss them. (I remembered to tell you this because I’m in the process of making it right now!)
Laina
🙂 Thanks!!!
Caroline
Susan,
Have you tried using PB2 as a replacement for traditional peanut butter? It has 85% less fat calories than peanut butter. I just mix it with water and use it like you would the regular stuff but I haven’t tried cooking with it yet.
Susan Voisin
I haven’t been able to find PB2 locally, but it seems like the last time someone mentioned it, I checked it out and it had something in it that I didn’t want to eat. Sugar maybe? I’ll have to check again. Thanks for the reminder.
Laina
I made this the other night. I did halve the peanut butter and omitted the parsley and green onions.
Also I added the garbanzo beans you suggested and I decided to add a chopped up zuchinni and 8 oz package of mushrooms.
This is OH SO DELICIOUS!!! Wow, another favorite.
Thank you so much Susan. 🙂
PS I bought the peanuts, but didn’t add them because they weren’t needed. I bought a can and could kick myself. Opened the lid and ate handfuls. Next time I’m only going to buy the small celephane package they sell at the register. 🙂
Theresa
I made this for dinner for my mother and I and we both loved it! This recipe has a lot of flavor. Made it exactly like the recipe except left off peanuts because I didn’t have any. It’s definitely going to become a regular in my house.
Derborah Christy
I am going to try it with PB2. A two tbls serving has 45 calories, 1.5g fat. I love the stuff and I believe it will be just as wonderful tasting!
Connie
I have that cookbook and also love this recipe. I’ve served it to non-veg people and they also enjoyed it.
WandaFish
Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe, Susan! I’m not a veggie, just someone who enjoys good food and trying to eat healthy. I made this using cilantro and omitting the scallions and it was very tasty 🙂
I’m a Brit and struggle a bit with cup conversions. I used about 8oz of kale as I could only find it prepackaged – I’m still not sure of the quantity you would use. I think I’d like it with a little more sauce next time too (or maybe I should just eat less rice)
Eloïse
Wow! This was good! I used spinach cause they were out of kale at the supermarket and added chickpeas. I also used a bit of tomato juice. All over coconut rice! Yum! First recipe I try from your blog and there is a lot more I wanna try. I want to go vegan.. Thanks for sharing.
Trish
I found a copy of Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home in a thrift shop, and bought it w/o even looking through it, as I have three other Moosewood books. Molly Katzen’s recipes are unique, healthy and good.
So…I made this pineapple peanut stew for tonight’s dinner, and it was *so* yummy! My husband is a meat-and-potato guy, so it took some coaxing, but after eating it, he went back to the stove and heaped a second helping in his bowl. It was a big hit, and I’ll definitely make it again. Oh, and I served it over farro.
Florence
Just made this tonight and it was excellent. The only changes I made was that I added a can of black beans and used Siracha for the hot sauce.
Erin
This was really good! Great way to use our fresh pineapple.
kim baker
If you say ‘ Moosewood’ is good I’ll be so grateful. I copied an inch worth of recipe cards from that book and haven’t made one recipe yet! It is a long story … I’ll be trying this one as I love unusual ! Sweet potato hash goodness!