African Peanut Stew

Get ready for a big bowl of vegetable goodness!

African Peanut Stew is another wonderful recipe from my new Oh She Glows Cookbook.

You might remember that my friend Barb gave me this cookbook and I happily used up all the post-it tabs marking recipes.

Like the first recipe I tried, Perfect Chickpea Salad and a recipe (coming soon) for quick tomato sauce, African Peanut Stew does not disappoint!

No tired old vegetable soup here. You’re looking at a bowl full of veggies that packs a powerful flavor punch thanks to the addition of peanut butter, smoky cumin & paprika, and just a hint of spice.

I’ll try just about anything that includes a sweet potato and spinach so I was SO happy to have a big pot of this soup to nosh on all week.

Here’s what you need:

Onion, Garlic, Red Bell Pepper, Sweet Potato, Spinach, Jalapeno Pepper, Vegetable Broth, Diced Tomatoes, Peanut Butter, Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans, Olive Oil, Chili Powder, Cayenne Pepper, Smoked Paprika (not pictured) Ground Cumin (not pictured), Dry Roasted Peanuts, Salt & Pepper.

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A great thing about this recipe is that once you do your initial chopping, everything else goes very quickly. Since there is no meat in the soup, you can cook up a big pot in only the time it takes for the veggies to soften. Great for busy weeknight schedules!

Finely chop 1 medium onion and 3-4 cloves of garlic.

Dice up 1 red bell pepper. Remove the seeds and inner membranes from 1 jalapeño pepper and cut it into very small dice.

Even if you’re cooking for kids, the jalapeño doesn’t add very much heat since the seeds are removed. I would go ahead and add it to the soup without worry. This is not spicy at all.

That being said, if you want more spice, feel free to leave in the seeds, add an extra pepper, or just add a little more cayenne at the end.

While you’re chopping, peel 1 large sweet potato and cut it into 1-inch cubes. You’ll want to cut the sweet potato into slightly bigger pieces than the other veggies so it doesn’t fall apart.

Heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a large soup pot or dutch oven. Add the onions  and garlic and sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the onions are tender but not browned.

To keep the garlic from burning, I like to add the onions first, give them a minute or two in the pan, and then add the garlic on top of the onions.

Add the chopped red bell peppers, jalapeño, and cubes of sweet potato to the pot.

Dump in a big (28 oz.) can of diced tomatoes and their juices.

Raise the heat to medium high and simmer all of the vegetables for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine 1/3 cup peanut butter and 1 cup of vegetable broth.

Whisk together until smooth and lump free.

If your peanut butter doesn’t whisk easily, pop the bowl into the microwave for about 15 seconds to soften it.

Stir the peanut butter mixture into the soup then add the remaining 3 cups of vegetable broth. (A 32 oz. carton of broth will give you the 4 cups total needed for this recipe. Don’t even bother to measure, just dump it in.)

Season the soup with 1½ teaspoons chili powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the sweet potatoes are tender.

Drain & rinse 1 (15 oz.) can of chickpeas and add them to the pot.

Toss in a 2-3 cups of baby spinach. No need to measure here either, just toss in a couple of big handfuls.

I even added a bit more spinach after it had cooked down.

Cook the soup for an additional 5 minutes or so to let the spinach wilt and the chickpeas heat through.

Taste the soup and season with salt & pepper. You can also adjust the spiciness by adding a bit more cayenne or smoked paprika to taste.

Serve a big hearty bowl of soup and top with dry roasted peanuts for a bit of salty crunch.

Some fresh cilantro would be a great addition to the toppings if you are a cilantro person.

Fair warning though…you now have an open jar of dry roasted peanuts in your kitchen which I find impossible to resist.

I LOVE this soup!

So healthy but in a hearty, flavorful way. This reminds me that I should make all vegetable soups more often!

And, for you meat eaters out there, my friend Nikolay reports that after having this at our house, he made this soup and added a ham bone to the pot.

Make a big batch so you’ll have leftovers!

Here’s the recipe – Adapted from The Oh She Glows Cookbook

African Peanut Stew