Sweet Potato, Carrot and Butter Bean Stew

Here I was thinking we were moving towards spring, but instead we are back to snow! This stew is something that I made in large quantities when it was snowing a couple of weeks ago, and I then portioned it out for lunch to take into work and re-heat, which very much hit the spot!

It is easy to make, and mostly just takes some time to simmer.

Chop 80g of carrots per portion, 100g of sweet potatoes per portion, and have 1/3 - 1/2 can of butter beans per portion. I made three portions of this the first time, and four the second time, so I slightly varied how many butter beans I used.

Once these are chopped, get a big wok/frying pan and heat up some olive oil, then add two chopped gloves of garlic. Allow the garlic to cook in the hot oil for about 5 minutes, then add in the chopped vegetables, 200g (half a tin) of chopped tomatoes per portion, and one tin full of water. Turn the heat down to medium and allow this to simmer and cook. Try to make sure all of the vegetables, especially the sweet potatoes, are covered by the water. 

If you are making this in the morning for dinner, it would also work being cooked in the slow cooker. Allow this to simmer on a medium to low heat for about 1 hour, or until the carrots and sweet potatoes are soft. Stir occasionally and top up with more water if it looks like it is getting dry.

In the last 15 minutes of the stew, put a pan on for the side. I used 50g per portion of a quinoa and bulgar wheat mix (that I got from Tesco) but you could also do this with quinoa by itself, with rice or just have it by itself depending on your preferences. Cook the quinoa and bulgar wheat for 15 minutes.

Once both the stew and the quinoa and bulgar wheat mix is done, you can serve with a handful of spinach, or allow to cool to portion into tubs for lunches!

FYI: from my best calculations, this counts as 4 of your 5 a day!