Bean
Vegetarian Brazilian Bean Stew with a Vegetable Medley
- Serves 8
Author Notes
Feijoada is undoubtedly the most typical Brazilian dish. There are several legends about the its origin, but according to scholars, it comes from Portugal, where it was made using white beans, meat and vegetables. The Brazilian version is a little different and got famous worldwide for its strong and delicious taste.
It’s always a good idea to serve it on Saturday or Sunday, since it’s such a heavy recipe. I mean, no one can work and digest all the pork at the same time! But this vegetarian version takes the guilt of eating all that fat out of the picture and can be served easily during the week :-)
Besides being lighter, it’s also cheaper and easier to make. There is no meat to submerge in water for days, nor several parts of pork to be bought. As the ingredients are so different, I completely changed the process, cooking the vegetables and the beans separately and putting them together in the end. And it didn’t let me down! I ended up not using all the typical side dishes, since it turned out to be quite a complete meal. But feel free to use whichever you want! —Ana Sonali Queiroz
Ingredients
- Ingredients for the feijoada
-
500 grams
black beans
-
2
carrots – chopped into sticks
-
3
potatoes – chopped into sticks
-
2
onions – chopped finely
-
350 grams
green beans – chopped into sticks
-
1
eggplant – chopped into medium chunks
-
3
cloves of garlic – smashed
-
2 tablespoons
smoked hot paprika
-
3
bay leaves
-
Oil
-
Salt to taste
- Side dishes (optional!)
-
Cassava (or yuca) flour
-
Stir fried kale
-
Rice
-
Slices of orange
Directions
- Cook the beans in a pressure cooker for 30 minutes with some salt and the bay leaves.
- While the beans cook, wash and chop the vegetables.
- Take the onions and garlic to a big pot and let them brown with a little bit of oil. Mix in the sausages and cook for a bit. Add the paprika and salt. Stir in the vegetables, in stages. I put the potatoes and green beans first, since they have to be well cooked. When they got tender, I added the carrots and the eggplant.
- When the beans are cooked and all the vegetables are getting tender, join everything in the big pot and check the seasoning. As soon as the broth thickens, the feijoada is done! Serve immediately, along with the side dishes of your choice.
See what other Food52ers are saying.