Harissa Sweet Potato And Chickpea Stew Recipe

Stews offer versatile dinner options with endless preparation combinations. Whether you're braising meat for hours or infusing flavor into your favorite legumes and vegetables, it's sure to be a comforting meal. Food Republic recipe developer Julianne De Witt shares this delicious harissa sweet potato and chickpea stew recipe, which she says is "hearty, delicious, and easy to put together if you don't mind a little chopping." 

If you're looking for some vegetarian recipes to add to your repertoire, this one is a no-brainer. "The warm spices used in this recipe are a natural complement to the starchy sweet potatoes, while the tomatoes add some acidity and the harissa brings some heat to balance the stew," De Witt says. Aside from the delightful taste, she's also a fan of this recipe since it can be ready in half an hour, which is perfect for busy evenings. The combination of ingredients is satiating, but if you want a little something extra to mop up the goodness, she recommends a crusty baguette. Leftovers keep for a few days and can be frozen for up to three months, so you might want to consider making a large batch up front.

For this recipe, you'll need olive oil, yellow onion (diced), garlic cloves (minced), and fresh ginger (minced). To season, use ground cinnamon, ground coriander, ground cumin, salt, ground black pepper, and harissa paste. Next, grab a can of diced tomatoes, vegetable stock, sweet potatoes (diced into ½-inch cubes), a can of chickpeas (drained), and roughly chopped kale. Finally, sour cream and roasted pumpkin seeds garnish the dish. De Witt suggests substituting non-dairy yogurt if you want to keep this recipe vegan.

Add the olive oil to a Dutch oven over medium heat.

Add the onion and garlic and saute for 2 minutes, until the onions are translucent.

Add the cinnamon, coriander, cumin, salt, pepper, and harissa.

Stir and cook until fragrant, approximately 1 minute.

Add the diced tomatoes, vegetable stock, sweet potatoes, and chickpeas to the Dutch oven. Stir.

Bring the stew to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender.

Add the chopped kale at the end of the cooking time, and stir.

When serving, add a dollop of sour cream to each bowl and top with pumpkin seeds.

Harissa shows up front and center in this recipe, so it's worth clarifying what it consists of for unfamiliar home cooks. "Harissa is a spicy and aromatic chile paste that is used in Middle Eastern and North African cooking," De Witt says. "It contains dried chilies, olive oil, garlic, coriander, cumin, and caraway." Together, it creates a paste that can be dissolved into recipes, notably stews. 

Depending on your heat tolerance, you'll want to tread lightly. "The level of spiciness depends on the type of chiles used, so I recommend starting with 1 tablespoon and adjusting, to taste, or even try a small taste of the paste prior to adding to gauge the spice level," De Witt recommends. Since harissa adds heat, you can swap it out for other chile sauces, such as sambal oelek, sriracha, hot sauce, and even gochujang. You can try making a basic homemade harissa, or if you are spice averse, then simply skip it altogether.

Harissa is a pretty versatile condiment. Of course, you'll want to make sure that the dish you're adding it to can take the heat; don't overdo the spice factor if you're already including harissa. De Witt offers a few ideas to experiment with harissa: "Use it to add a kick of spice to hummus, roasted vegetables, or in marinades for meat, poultry, or tofu," she says. 

Since it comes as a paste, you'll want to make sure to properly stir it in with the other ingredients to avoid a lump of chile paste. Whisk it with oil to make it easier to brush on vegetables or add to a marinade. Aside from hummus, you can add it to mayonnaise for your own spicy mayo rendition, or mix it with yogurt to make a dip. As long as you're a fan of chiles, there's no end to the ways that you can experiment with harissa.