Vegetarian Brazilian Feijoada (Black Bean Stew)

Feijoada is a traditional dish served in Brazil, which essentially involves beans and a lot of meat, often smoked. To make the vegetarian version, I substitute meat for vegetables and add smoked paprika to get a smoky flavour. There are a number of ways you can play with the recipe; you can also use 'fake' meat with a smoky flavour such as vegetarian frankfurters, or 'fake' bacon. I've done this before with much success but since I don't tend to cook with fake meat that often, I usually just use a root vegetable or something from the squash family. Carrots, butternut squash and sweet potato all work really well in this dish, but you can basically use any vegetable you want. Adding onions or spring onions also enhances the dish, but I like to keep it simple: beans and vegetables, cooked until soft and creamy. I use a brazilian seasoning called 'tempero completo' in this dish, which is sold in the 'world foods' section of my local supermarket, but if you don't have access to it, just add in a tsp of dried vegetable stock instead. For a truly authentic Brazilian experience, serve with farofa (toasted manioc flour) but again it is fine without. In my house, we also eat this with an egg on top, though this is entirely optional.

Serves 3 as a main course, more as a side

Ingredients:

2 x 400g black beans, (or 200g dried black beans, soaked overnight and pre-cooked for several hours until soft)
~400g butternut squash/sweet potato/carrot, peeled and cut into approx 1 inch cubes
1 bay leaf
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp tempero completo (or substitute with 1 tsp stock)
smoked paprika, to taste

Instructions:

1. Fry garlic and bay leaf in oil on a medium heat for a couple of minutes.

2. Add black beans, complete with water from the cans (or add pre-cooked black beans).

3. Add vegetables, tempero completo (or stock), smoked paprika, and stir in. Cook, uncovered, until vegetables are soft and liquid has reduced (about 45 minutes).

Remove bay leaf and serve.