Terere is what we call amaranth leaves in my mothertongue. So this dish is amaranth leaves in peanut sauce.

This dish makes me nostalgic of my uni days when I’d scour through cookbooks filled with recipes, copy some and try them out at home over the weekend. Clearly I didn’t have an active social life back then. 😆

The first recipe I ever saw that called for peanut sauce in greens was from Southern Africa, using pumpkin leaves, which I just had to try out. Thankfully pumpkin leaves were available in our garden and I’ve never forgotten the creamy deliciousness I enjoyed when I attempted the dish.

I like making this as a side dish for ugali. But it can work with other mains as well.

I like amaranth as it’s one of those plants you can consume the grains and the leaves, the grains are ground into flour to make porridge, or puffed to make breakfast cereal, or pressed with honey into cereal bars that make a great snack for kids and adults too. It is easily available and affordable, there is no excuse to not include it in your diet.

Amaranth is not hard to grow and back home grows wild in the farm. They come in green and red varieties.

Terere aka “dodo” as it is known here in Kampala is a nutrient powerhouse, despite being viewed as a lowly vegetable by many. It is high in fiber and iron, rich in vitamin A, protein, calcium, lysine (which enables the body to absorb calcium among other benefits), as well as rich in various vitamins and minerals.

In this recipe, I used two bunches of green amaranth leaves and one bunch of Swiss chard. One onion, three cloves garlic minced, one sliced tomato, and 1and a half heaped tbsp peanut sauce mixed with a bit of water to make a paste, salt and pepper to taste. Spices used were a pinch of paprika but this is optional.

Clean your greens, remove the thick stalks and chop them roughly. Set aside in a colander.

Mix the peanut butter and half a cup of water in a bowl. Till it’s like a smooth porridge.

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Heat one tablespoon of oil in a pan. Fry the onion and garlic till soft.

Add the tomatoes and spice and mix well with a pinch of salt.

Once tomatoes are soft, add the greens and mix well.

Once wilted, add the sauce.

Simmer for about 10 minutes. The vegetables will release their water and mix with the peanut sauce into a thick sauce and be tender.

Note: The younger the veggies, the shorter the cooking time as you do not want to overcook them. I like them with some bit of bite left.

Use good quality peanut butter preferably with no added sugar. I like using a local brand that mixes in sesame seeds to them that makes it darker in colour but also adds more flavour.

Serve your vegetables hot with your main of choice. I like having them with ugali and avocado slices on the side. Yum!