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Fall is nearly here, and what better way to celebrate than with a big pot of comforting stew? I love anything that holds soup well — those mug-bowl hybrids are perfect for wrapping your hands around while you sip, or you can set it on a plate and enjoy with a spoon if you prefer. A warm, spoonable bowl is exactly how autumn should begin.
This version of Brazilian Black Bean Stew is inspired by the original Moosewood recipe and by my sister Jessamine. I’ve thickened the traditional soup, added roasted sweet potato, a splash of hot sauce, and sometimes I crumble crispy bacon on top. The result is hearty and richly textured: tender black beans, aromatic garlic, sweet bell pepper, and small cubes of roasted sweet potato suspended in a thick tomato-orange broth. It’s a cozy, satisfying dish that feels made for cooler weather.
A quick aside: I wrote part of this post while my husband amused himself with a series of offbeat questions and observations that kept interrupting my train of thought — everything from the mystery of a long pinky fingernail to whether dogs are drawn to sweet potatoes. He even serenaded me with a weather-related tune. So I’m setting aside my rambling and sharing the recipe so I can go spend the evening with my wonderfully oddball spouse.
A quick note about dried beans
This stew uses dried black beans. While you don’t strictly need to soak dried beans before cooking, pre-soaking makes their texture and the final results more predictable for this particular recipe. Beans you cook yourself have a depth of flavor and pleasing texture that canned beans usually can’t match. Soaking and simmering them only adds a little hands-off time to the process and yields a better stew. It typically takes about an hour and a bit to simmer the beans until tender, most of which is hands-off time.
Brazilian Black Bean Stew {with roasted sweet potatoes}
Rebecca Lindamood
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Ingredients
- 2 cups dried black beans rinsed and picked over, then covered by at least double the height of water to soak. *See Notes
- 5 cups water
- 3 teaspoons salt divided
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 large sweet potato scrubbed, peeled, and diced into 1/8 to 1/4-inch cubes
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 3 cups chopped onion
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic divided
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper to taste
- 1 medium carrot peeled and minced
- 1 red bell pepper seeded, stemmed, and diced
- 1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice or unsweetened orange juice
- 2 medium tomatoes diced, or 1 small can of diced tomatoes
- the zest of one orange
Optional Toppings:
- Plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
- fresh cilantro
- hot sauce of choice
- avocado cubes
- crumbled crispy bacon
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 425°F.
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Drain and rinse the soaked beans, then add them to a large soup pot with 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, stir in 2 teaspoons of the salt, cover tightly, reduce heat and simmer until very tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
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While the beans simmer, toss the sweet potato cubes with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Roast on a rimmed baking sheet for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cubes are tender, caramelized and lightly charred in spots. Set aside.
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Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy skillet. Add the onions, carrots, half the garlic, cumin, cayenne, and a pinch of salt. Sauté over medium heat until the carrot is tender. Stir in the diced bell pepper and the remaining garlic and continue to cook until the vegetables are nearly melting, about 10 minutes.
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Scrape the cooked vegetables and the tomatoes into the pot with the beans. Add the orange juice and the final cup of water to the skillet you used for the vegetables, swirl to loosen any browned bits, and pour that into the beans as well. Use an immersion blender to puree a portion of the stew so it thickens but still retains texture. If you don’t have an immersion blender, pulse about 2 cups in a regular blender and return it to the pot.
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Stir the roasted sweet potato cubes into the stew and simmer another 8–10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Serve with any of the optional toppings you like.
Notes
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided as a courtesy. Calculate nutrition using the actual ingredients you use with your preferred calculator.
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