Let's Cook! Zesty Peanut Soup

Recently I gave you a quick overview of the “FEED our Small World” cookbook and promised to share a few of the recipes contained therein, and here (I’m sure much sooner than most Dedicated Readers expected) is a recipe for an unusual, healthy and flavor-filled soup.

This combo of good things that grow underground is from Senegal, and is essentially a version of what is known as Groundnut Soup (or stew). So without any further ado, Let’s Cook!

Zesty Peanut Soup

Ingredients

1 Tbl Vegetable Oil

1 Onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 Carrot, grated (about 1/2 cup)

1 Large Sweet Potato, peeled and grated (about 3 cups, see note at end of recipe)

The veggies...

3 Cups Water

1 (10.75 oz) Can Condensed Tomato Soup (like the one in the Warhol painting)

1/2 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter

1 Tsp Curry Powder (or a bit more if you like…)

1/4 Tsp Cayenne Pepper (or once again, more if you like…)

Sour Cream or Plain Yoghurt, for serving

Garnishes as desired (chopped peanuts, minced green onions, cilantro, etc.)

Procedure

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat and add the onion and carrot and saute until tender, 4 or 5 minutes. I added part of the curry powder during the saute (and yes, I used double the recommended amount of curry powder).

Add the sweet potato and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes until the potato is tender.

Stir in the tomato soup…

the peanut butter, curry powder and cayenne…

bring to a boil then remove from the heat and let cool for 10 minutes or so.

Blend the soup until smooth, using an immersion blender or in batches as needed in a standard blender.

Reheat if needed and ladle into a serving bowl. Add a spoonful of sour cream or plain yoghurt and sprinkle with any of the desired accompaniments. You can always add a few drops of your hot sauce of choice if you need an extra kick.

Zesty Peanut Soup... it looks so good I had to include the picture twice...

The only laborious part of the recipe is the grating of the sweet potato – you could just chop instead (by hand or in your food processor), you’d just have to simmer a bit longer to get it tender.

This is also good at room temperature and even cold. I think any leftover soup would be great added to pasta for a warm or room temp dish – add some veggies (thin sliced broccoli, raw or sauteed; green peppers; whatever floats your boat) and sliced protein of choice if you so desire (cooked chicken breast; shrimp; firm tofu; etc.)… I haven’t tried this with pasta yet, but it should be a no-brainer…

This one is worth giving a try – if you do, please post your comments!

As usual, we’ve got to get back to the kitchen – see you soon!