NOLA: Creole ginger sweetcorn and sweet potato (V)

I've spotted a whole raft of interesting looking recipes using sweet potatoes recently, but have never tried them. My son said they are good, so finding some big ones in ALDI this week we added them to our trolley, along with a small root of ginger and decided to experiment!  This isn't a traditional Creole recipe but as it includes Cajun seasoning and tomatoes, plus that Holy Trinity again, we figured it would give an idea of the flavour by calling it Creole ginger sweetcorn and sweet potato!

We made it last night and left it in the casserole dish overnight to stand, then tonight transferred it into a large pan for reheating on the stove. Served with garlic and coriander pita strips it was seriously yummy! 

Here is the recipe if you want to try:

Creole ginger sweetcorn and sweet potato

Ingredients:

olive oil  for cooking

3 cloves smoked garlic finely chopped (unsmoked will work just as well if you prefer)

1cm knob of root ginger (approx 1cm diameter) peeled and finely chopped

1/2 large white onion, peeled and finely chopped

4-5 scallions (spring onions), peeled and finely chopped

1 large sweet potato peeled and diced into 1cm cubes

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 tin sweetcorn

2 tbsp Cajun seasoning

1/2 vegetable stock (water +1 veg stock cube + 1 green OXO)

1 tbsp dried thyme

1 green pepper, deseeded and cut into small pieces

2 sticks celery with leafy tops, chopped into small pieces

fresh coriander or flat parsley (optional)

Method:

Put some olive oil in large pan or wok (enough to cover the base), add garlic and ginger, onion and scallion, fry for 2-3 minutes until onion softens. Add Cajun seasoning and thyme and a little boiling water to prevent sticking.  Add sweet potato mixing all together and add stock. Leave on low heat for around 8 minutes until sweet potato is hot. Into an oven proof casserole put the chopped tomatoes, sweetcorn, green pepper, celery. Remove wok from heat and add sweet potato mix to casserole, mix all well together.  Put casserole into oven on Gas mark 6 for around an hour. Remove from heat and leave to stand for several hours in casserole, or overnight if possible. Transfer mix to large pan and heat through over a medium heat on the stove, until it is piping hot throughout. Just before serving ass a handful of chopped fresh coriander or flat parsley.  Really good served with rice or cornbread. 

Serves 4

Vegetarian