Vegetable & Chickpea Mafé {A Senegalese Peanut Stew}

Life would be so boring if we could only eat one kind of cuisine.

Seriously.

I don't know how some people get through life only eating meat and potatoes every night for dinner. Do people still do that? 

I'm not sure when my love of different cuisines started. To be honest, I was somewhat of a picky eater growing up. Well, I'm not sure "picky" is the correct word. I did branched out in my food choices, but not necessarily into different cuisines. A lot of the foods I chose to eat when I was a kid are disgusting to think about.

Let me share with you some of my childhood creations. Brace yourself.

- Hotdog Sandwiches (Bread, Ketchup, Mustard, and Relish. No Hotdog. Yup.)

- Bologna and Cream Cheese Roll-ups. (Just that...cream cheese smeared onto a piece of bologna and rolled up.)

- Open faced American cheese and mustard sandwiches.

- Ice cream with cereal crushed on top. 

I think I'll stop there before I embarrass myself more. 

But, I really am amazed at how far I've come in regards to the kinds of foods I like. Nowadays I'll always try a type of food once, even if it's fried termites. This bravery was especially nice to have when I worked at my old job and traveled around the world. Most times when I was overseas for a work trip I would have no idea what our food situation would be like. Sometimes it was amazing, while other times it was less than favorable. While there were definitely times when I didn't want to try something new and would have killed or a cold bowl of cereal, I am so thankful for all the unique foods I was forced to able to taste. I learned quickly that food is a huge part of what makes up a culture and I wanted to get the full experience...even if that meant fried termites!

Another awesome thing about my old job was that all of my coworkers traveled as well, and often times to different countries than I did. A lot of the times my coworkers, when they got home, would cook dishes that they discovered while overseas for the rest of our team. That's how I discovered Mafé!

A married couple on my team had the opportunity to travel to Senegal and when they got back to the states they had a bunch of my coworkers and I over for dinner and made us Mafé, a traditional African Peanut Beef Stew that is served over rice.

It was one of the most deliciously rich meals I've ever had! And the fact that it's made with peanut butter...I mean, come on. 

I had forgotten about Mafé until just the other day. When I thought of it, I immediately knew that I had to make a meatless version of it. 

Guys, you're going to love this Vegetable and Chickpea Mafé!

It's so simple to make.

It's full of rich, peanut butter flavor.

It's hearty and unique.

You'll get a full serving of veggies (always a plus!)

Trust me. You'll want seconds!

I hope you guys enjoy this simple and delicious Vegetable and Chickpea Mafé recipe! Let me know if you make it!

And if you too ate some weird food combinations when you were younger, please...help me not feel so weird and let me know what they were in the comments!

📖 Recipe

Vegetable and Chickpea Mafé {A Senegalese Peanut Stew}

Faith VanderMolen

This Senegalese inspired Vegetable and Chickpea Mafé is hearty, full of rich, peanut butter flavor, and chock full of veggies. You'll have a hard time saying no to seconds!

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Vegan Main Dish Recipes

Cuisine Senegalese

Servings 6 servings

Calories 295 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ½ cup peanut butter
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup chopped onion ½ large
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 green bell pepper seeded and chopped
• 1 cup peeled and chopped carrot
• 2 cups cauliflower florets (heaping) ½ small head
• 15 ounces chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ teaspoon salt
• freshly ground pepper

Instructions 

• Whisk together the peanut butter and vegetable broth and set aside.
• Heat a skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion, garlic, peppers, carrots and cauliflower until the onions are translucent.
• Add in the peanut butter and vegetable broth mixture and stir well.
• Add in the drained and rinsed chickpeas, diced tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper.
• Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring often, until the sauce thickens and the cauliflower florets are cooked through and fork tender.
• Remove the bay leaf. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve over warm rice.

Notes

I like to serve this stew over rice. You can also use couscous or cauliflower rice.

Nutrition

Calories: 295kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 13gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gSodium: 638mgPotassium: 707mgFiber: 9gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 3912IUVitamin C: 43mgCalcium: 96mgIron: 4mg

Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!