African Peanut Stew

My husband really loves peanut butter. He really, really does. So a friend sent him this recipe after he publicly professed his enduring love for the spread. It is super-healthy and super-hearty, especially for a vegetarian stew. If you like peanuts, peanut butter, or sweet potatoes, you'll be sure to love this stew. If you have a nut allergy...well, I'm sorry you can't enjoy this. 

Origin:

West Africa

Serves:

4

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cayenne, or more to taste
• 1 1/2 lb sweet potatoes, 1/2 inch dice
• 1 14.5 ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup smooth, natural peanut butter
• 1/2 cup chopped unsalted dry-roast peanuts

Cooking:

1. Heat your oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once heated, stir in the onion and cover, cooking for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is softened. Add the bell pepper and garlic and cover once again for another 5 minutes, or until the pepper is softened.

2. Stir in your brown sugar, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the sweet potatoes, coating them in the spices. 

3. Stir in the tomatoes and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low, simmering for about 30 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.

4. Add the kidney beans and cook thoroughly for about 10 minutes. Toward the end of your cooking time, take about 1 cup of the broth out of the stew and put it in a bowl. Add the peanut butter to this and mix together. This will make it easier to add the peanut butter to the rest of the stew.

5. Add the peanut butter mixture and the dry peanuts to your stew and serve.

6. Enjoy.

Notes:

• I've served this with rice or couscous on numerous occasions. 
• If you want a faster cooking time, dice your sweet potatoes smaller!
• You can make this a thicker soup by taking about 1 cup of the stew out and blending it in a food processor, then stirring it back in. I've never tried this before, as I like the stew as it is, but it might be worth a try.
• I always add extra cayenne! We like things spicy so I always add extra.

Would you put peanut butter in your stew? Better yet, would you eat it if you did? Well, you should, because I think you'll like it! 

-Carly