Some days, all I just want for lunch is a non-regular but yet healthy and delicious meal. This past week kept me pondering on that one special non-regular, which will perfectly quench my cravings and luckily this black beans and yam recipe popped up.
Just three keywords for this dish! Simple, Healthy and Delicious!!!
First, soaking then cooking the black beans and yam until done, followed by the sauce, now this delectable grand finale ~ black beans and yam.
My dear, this is such a nutritious and palatable lunch ~ Hang on, let me quickly reiterate that again: a nutritious and palatable lunch indeed. But apart from serving as lunch, it perfectly fits the bill for a great dinner as well if you don't mind having a heavy meal for dinner.
This black beans and yam, which is otherwise known as akidi na ji by the Igbos is such type of meal you can conveniently prepare in your home and then graciously devour as either lunch, dinner or even midday meal.
Whatever....
Meanwhile, here is a quick video on how to cook black beans and yam!!!
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But don't just enjoy this meal alone, I urge you to share along with family and friends :D and I bet they will join the bandwagon and attest to the amazing nature of this dish.
I bet you that there is no other better way of preparing the black beans than with this recipe. I adopted this recipe from my mum and I owe her big time on this one :D
Preparing the akidi na ji dish is pretty easy and let me just quickly say that soaking the beans before the actual cooking saves a lot of time and energy that could be wasted on getting the beans softened if not soaked.
Once you get the beans soaked then you are rest assured that the remaining task is as good as completed to yield such a delicious and satisfying meal that will wooowww everybody including first timers.
Opening the pot cover and stirring the cooked beans and yam, inhaling all the aromatic smells of some tenderly cooked akidi mixed with yam, tomato, spinach and onion sauce, couldn't have gotten any much better than this. For this recipe, you finalize the cooking atop a delicious sauce, so that you are not bothered about making any sort of side dish since it is all built in.
The only other optional thing you may require is some slices of fresh spinach for garnishing and your meal is complete but like I said initially, this is entirely optional.
This dish tastes really good, pals ~ Yeah, Reeeeaaalllyyyy rrreeeeaaalllllyyyy good...
Just a breakdown of what the dish is packed with:
Black beans (akidi) (Yes, this is one of my all-favourite beans)
Yam,
Fresh spinach,
Fresh tomatoes,
Fresh pepper,
Onion
Palm oil
and spices.
But you are free to add as many ingredients as you like and according to your heart desires. Next time, I am definitely going to add some mushrooms and green amaranthus. One good thing about this recipe is that it isn't rigid at all. While the original recipe calls for green amaranthus (My mummy's style) and here I am making mine with spinach and it still tastes amazing really.
So peradventure you don't have any of these green leaves around you then use whichever one you have available. This is such type of dish that when you try once you will be captivated to continue eating forever. Iyke and I really enjoyed this akidi na ji dish and we look forward to making the dish more often :D
Guys go for this meal and you will be happy you did.
One Love
Blessing
Ingredients:
- 2 cups black beans (akidi)
- ¼ yam, peeled and cut
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 stock cubes
- 50ml palm oil
- ½ bunch spinach, cut
- 1 onion, sliced
- ½ fresh red pepper
- 12 small fresh tomatoes, sliced
Instructions:
- Sort, wash and soak the dried black beans (akidi) in water for at least 5 hours or preferably overnight.
- Afterwards wash and add the beans in a pot then add water and continue cooking until softened.
- Wash and add the yam in the softened black beans, add more water if the beans have absorbed all the water then continue cooking until the yam has been softened.
- Bring down the beans and yam from heat, pour in a sieve to drain out water then set aside.
- Slightly heat up the palm oil then add the onions and saute for two minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, pepper, stock cubes and salt then continue stirring until the tomatoes are cooked and slightly dried.
- Add the spinach and simmer for 2 minutes then bring down the sauce from heat.
- Pour the sauce over the cooked black beans and yam then stir properly until well combined.
- Garnish with some fresh spinach if you like then serve warm immediately.
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