13 Feb Laurie’s Spicy African Peanut Soup
We’ve read some amazing books this season and Laurie’s selection, Pulitzer Prize winner, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, ranks right up there with one of my favs. Moving back and forth through time, it’s told in the alternating voices of Marie-Laure, a blind french girl forced to flee Paris with her father when the Nazis invade, and Werner, an orphaned German boy with the unique gift of building and repairing radios. The war slowly saps these children’s innocence while it steals their loved ones, yet when their worlds magically collide, we see that hope and kindness can survive the most devastating of circumstances. Stay tuned for a full review early this spring in Okanagan Woman magazine (and here on my site) but meanwhile make up a pot of this deliciously warm soup while the cold winter wind still blows.
What You Need
3 cups stock
2 slices fresh ginger
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp cayenne or 2 fresh chilli peppers
1 tbsp oil
2 onions, chopped
3 green onions chopped
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup tomato juice
2 garlic cloves, chopped
salt & pepper
What You Do
1) Heat the oil in a large saucepan over high heat, add pepper, ginger, carrots, garlic, onions, and cayenne or chilies
2) Cook for 2 minutes, then add potato and stock
3) Bring to the boil and simmer 10 minutes
4) Transfer the vegetables to a food processor and puree until smooth
5) Return the puree to the saucepan and stir in peanut butter and tomato juice or mash the vegetables in the saucepan until slightly lumpy
6) Add sugar, salt & pepper
7) Serve sprinkled with green onions and chopped peanuts