Kidney bean and pumpkin jamba stew

After a couple of initial recipes were made from Appetite for Reduction, I perused it again and bookmarked some meals that I wouldn't typically cook. Jambalaya is something that I have seen a lot of in American cookbooks and blogs but none of the recipes have appealed to me enough to go out and make one. It was time to give it a shot.

I felt like it was a huge gamble to make this recipe for several reasons which didn't make me feel very enthused about cooking on the night. The man and I generally have similar feelings about pumpkin, it's great when roasted but prepared any other way we can take it or leave it. My son is not the keenest in the beans department and kidney beans are right at the bottom of that list. It's not that he won't eat them, however he does have a bit of a grumble and won't rate the meal as highly if beans are included.        

When it came time to eat and everyone said that they were enjoying the meal I was astonished! At best I would have expected one or two of us to like it but it had a 100% success rate. I'm sure the spices had something to do with it. ;) 

Perhaps I should try this type of experimental cooking for us more often...   


Kidney bean and pumpkin jamba stew (Slightly modified from Appetite for Reduction)

Olive oil spray
1 brown onion, finely diced
1 green capsicum, seeded and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons paprika
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups vegetable stock
1 x 800g tin diced tomatoes
650g kent pumpkin, cut into approx. 2cm pieces
1/2 cup basmati rice
1 x 400g tin red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Spray the base of a medium-large pot with olive oil spray. Place on a medium flame, add the onion, capsicum and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, or until the onion and capsicum are becoming soft.

Add the bay leaves, paprika, cayenne pepper, thyme, oregano and salt and fry for about a minute. Stir through the vegetable stock, tomatoes, pumpkin, rice and kidney beans. Cover the pot and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 20-25 minutes. The rice and pumpkin should be tender after this time. 

Remove the bay leaves and serve.