Peanut Pineapple Stew

Today's recipe is a delicious and easy-to-make stew. It's the kind of recipe we prize here at Casual Kitchen because it combines easy to find ingredients in an unusual and highly original way.

This recipe is easily scalable (meaning you can double it with minimal incremental effort), it takes only about a half an hour to make, and it's so inexpensive that laughably cheap just isn't a strong enough word. Enjoy!
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Pineapple Peanut Stew
(Loosely inspired by The Bean Diet Blog)

Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, sliced coarsely into slivers
5 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 Tablespoon Tabasco sauce

Roughly 3-4 cups packed collard greens, chopped, with stems removed
1 20 oz can crushed pineapple, including liquid
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup peanut butter

Directions:
1) In a large pot, add oil, onions, garlic and Tabasco. Saute on medium heat for 5 minutes, until softened.

2) Add chopped collards, increase heat to medium high, and saute for 2-3 minutes.

3) Then add crushed pineapple (with liquid) and water. Bring everything to a boil, reduce heat back to medium and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4) Finally, add peanut butter and stir well. Add slightly more water if the stew is too thick. Simmer another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until collards are cooked to your liking. Serve over white or brown rice.

Serves 3-4.
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Recipe Notes:
1) This is a flexible, easily modifiable soup. You can increase or reduce the Tabasco for more or less heat. You can substitute other healthy and inexpensive greens for collards if you prefer: kale, swiss chard, cabbage, or even spinach are all potential candidates.

2) Note, however, if you plan to substitute other greens, be sure to adjust the simmering times to match the relative toughness of the greens you choose. You'll want to cook a tender green like spinach a little as possible, so I'd consider adding it just 3-4 minutes before you serve the soup. With a tougher green like cabbage, you might want to add an extra five minutes to the cooking time to make sure it's fully cooked to your liking.

3) A few words to quantify the preposterous cheapness of this recipe:

1/2 bunch of collards: 75c
onions: 25c
garlic: 5c
canned pineapple: 90c
peanut butter: 15c
olive oil/spices: 15c
rice: 10c

Even assuming three extremely hungry people, this dish costs less than 80c per serving. Once again, further proof that healthy food does not have to be expensive.

4) Here's what Laura said when she tried this dish for the very first time: "Mmmmm. When I'm eating this stew, I can feel all the lutein from the collard greens soaking up into my maculas." Yep, we have some bizarre dinner conversation here at Casual Kitchen, but when you're married to an eye doctor, this is what passes for high praise.

Related Posts:
Thai-Style Tofu in Coconut and Lime Sauce
Savory Moroccan Chickpeas
Spicy Sauteed Beets
Eat Right to See Right: Foods for Better Eye Health
The 25 Best Laughably Cheap Recipes at Casual Kitchen
A Recession-Proof Guide to Saving Money on Food
Seven Ways to Get Faster at Cooking
Does Healthy Eating Really Cost Too Much? A Blogger Roundtable
How to Enjoy Wine on a Budget




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