Are you in the mood for some comfort food? Of course you are; it's January. In the interest of resolutions and energy, you might, however, be leaning towards something with vegetables — perhaps even a vegetarian dish? I have a proposal for you: Fresh baby spinach and chickpeas seared with ginger, garlic, and onion in a creamy coconut milk sauce, finished off with a healthy dash of lemon.

But it doesn't stop there. No — this spicy, tangy dish of greens was designed to be served over a sweet potato. Want to see how it looks when all put together? Here you go...
It's a mess of color and vegetables: Green, tender spinach draped over a big, hot sweet potato. (I roasted my potato in the oven for about an hour at 400°F.)

This isn't by any means an especially difficult or even original meal; there are scads of recipes out there for greens braised in coconut milk. I was looking for a very specific taste — hot and spicy, extra tangy, rich and sweet from the coconut milk — every sense and taste in the dish amped up to 11, so to speak. The stew itself is a quick one; I put it together in about 30 minutes. That is one benefit to using baby spinach, instead of the kale, collards, or turnip greens often called for in this kind of recipe. They need to cook longer or even be blanched in boiling water beforehand. The spinach cooks much faster (and wilts down tremendously; the 1 pound called for here will look huge before cooking!).

Poured over the sweet potato this is powerhouse vegan comfort food, with loads of flavor and solid sustenance from the chickpeas and sweet potato. I haven't tried freezing the braised greens yet, but I think it would make a great make-ahead and even freezer-friendly meal for winter eating.