Red Curry Fava Bean and Sweet Potato - Mixed Vegetable Stew, Jade Pearl Rice with Cabbage (No Added Fat)

Surely I've made the Food for Life Red Curry Chickpea and Sweet Potato Soup for my family? I make it for my Food for Life students and will be making it in class tomorrow using my Saladmaster MP5 electronic oil-core pot, and wanted to give that pot a try at home with this dish.

It's a simple but tasty dish that is made by mixing in a tablespoon or so of Thai red curry paste with 2 cups of water, bringing to a boil, then adding a small sweet potato cut into small 1/4" or so cubes and a cup of cooked chickpeas. After about 5 minutes, the sweet potato should be just cooked; it is then taken off of the heat and a cup of baby spinach leaves are mixed in. After sitting for a minute or so, the spinach nicely cooks into the dish.

I did essentially that tonight, but I had forgotten to prepare chickpeas. I like fava beans and tried cooking them this past July, but I found it difficult to remove the tough outer skins, so have tried purchasing canned fava beans, but they, too, have skins. I had a can in stock, and it came to my rescue tonight, so I could use the fava beans instead of the chickpeas. I also added maybe a cup of frozen mixed vegetables including shelled edamame.

When I served, I mixed in a little salt. My family asked for some lime juice, so I added a teaspoon or so.

I also made a new kind of rice by making Jade Pearl rice (using a 1 : 1 1/2 ratio of rice to water, a vegan bouillon cube, and a 20m simmer time), then mixing in a little chopped onion and chopped purple cauliflower. It was good!

I was surprised that even my spice-averse daughter loved the main course. I guess the heat was sufficiently dilute that it didn't affect her. The MP5 pot worked like a champ, heating up quickly!