VitaClay Select: White Bean Sweet Potato & Sausage Stew

Sweet potatoes are a nutritional powerhouse. They're really the only starchy vegetable that everyone agrees is awesome, whether paleo, vegetarian, or gluten free. Even a lot of people who are on low carb diets will make exceptions for sweet potatoes.

There is just so much goodness! Vitamins! Minerals! Fiber! Sugar! It's got everything, all in one nice little package. I often bake sweet potatoes in the oven for an hour or so and just top them with some salt, cinnamon, butter and coconut oil. Delish! Super filling and easy to make, and it's good for me without the hassle.

Score! But, let's face it, even the best simple dishes get old after awhile, and it's hard to eat them much more than once or twice a week. So to break up the monotony I like to sprinkle in other recipes using sweet potatoes. That way I get all of the sweet potatoey goodness without getting bored. This stew recipe is savory, which is nice, because the sweet potatoes add a really good contrasting sweetness to it.

Try this super nutrient-dense stew and your family will be begging for more. Better make enough for leftovers!  And of course I love to cook stews in VitaClay because it's all in one pot, and I can safely walk away and do something else (even leave the house or take a nap) while dinner is cooking.

Plus the results are better than anything I've ever made in another cooker, whether ceramic, glass, stainless or cast iron (not to mention yucky non-stick coated aluminum).

Ingredients:

• 4 sweet potatoes, diced
• 8 sausage links (you may include your favorite), sliced
• 4 cups broth
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¾ t salt
• ¾ t pepper
• 1 bunch chard or kale
• 16 oz white beans: soaked, cooked and rinsed
• 1 T red wine vinegar
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme

Directions:

1.  Add all ingredients into the clay pot
2. Close, seal and cook on “stew” setting for 40 minutes
3. Serve with crusty sourdough and butter