West African Peanut Soup
A nutty, creamy soup full of chicken, sweet potatoes and kale.
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Peanut Oil (or other neutral oil)
- 1 large Onion chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh Ginger minced
- 1 lb Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts or Thighs cut into bite sized pieces
- 1/2 cup Shelled and Roasted Peanuts
- 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- Several Grinds of Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups water
- 1 lb Sweet Potatoes peeled and cut into bite sized cubes
- 28 can Diced Tomatoes with Juice
- 2 teaspoons Lime Juice optional
- 1/2 lb Kale or Collard Greens washed and cut into wide ribbons
- 2/3 cup Peanut Butter chunky or smooth
Instructions
- Put oil in a soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat; wait a minute, then add onion, ginger and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add chicken and continue cooking for another 3 or 4 minutes, until just starting to color. Add the peanuts, the cayenne and salt and pepper.
- Stir in the broth, water and sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil, and turn heat down to a simmer.
- Stir in tomatoes with their juices the lime juice and kale. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sweet potatoes and chicken are cooked through, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the peanut butter. Taste, adding more cayenne pepper if necessary.
Modifications
The original recipe has an extra ¼ cup of peanuts as a garnish at the end. I like the taste of this because the taste and texture of these peanuts is different than the one in the soup. I can't manage the extra step of garnishes, but if you can, it is a tasty option.
The chicken was ready to use in my freezer. I cut chicken up and divide it into 1 or 2 pound freezer bags when it gets here from the store.
I used the food processor to mince the garlic and then added the onion and processed it with the garlic already in the bowl.
I used half of a one pound bag of already washed and cut kale. It saved me a lot of time and energy.
Peeling and cutting up the sweet potatoes was the hardest part of this recipe. I broke it up into two different stages. I rested both me and my hands in between.
A trick for getting thick, sticky things like peanut butter easily out of the measuring cup, is to spray the measuring the cup with oil first.