West African Peanut Stew

You have got to try this!

Recently a friend of mine served this and I have to wonder how I've never heard of it before. If you google it, you'll see that it's not an uncommon recipe! I found that some people add to chicken to it, which sounds good, but I admit I prefer it the way it is. I also noticed that some people find it quite rich and choose to serve it over rice rather than as a soup. I may have to try that sometime too.

West African Peanut Stew

1 large onion (2 cups) diced 

1 large red bell pepper, diced 

3 medium sweet potatoes (5 cups) peeled and diced

½ Tbsp fresh minced ginger

2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained (I used 1 large 28 oz can)

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter 

5 cups broth (I used this)

2 Tbsp brown sugar

½  tsp. red ground pepper (I didn't have this so just used ground black pepper)

¼ cup peanuts 

Saute diced onion and bell pepper in large pan for about 3 minutes. 

Peel and chop sweet potatoes. Mince fresh ginger. Add these and all ingredients (except peanuts) to a soup pot.

Stir everything together. Cover and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Ladle soup into individual bowls-- sprinkling with chopped peanuts. I like to throw a few whole peanuts in the soup pot also.

 My husband and I can't get enough of this soup. However, I was surprised to find that my kids didn't love it! I am tempted to try pureeing the ingredients like I do with homemade tomato soups, etc., to see if they would like the flavor if they couldn't see all those chunky, healthy ingredients staring them in the face! Might make it more kid friendly...?