African Peanut Stew

When I was on my trip last week with my new girlfriends, I did some of the cooking. They all had recipe requests and asked if I would post more recipes on my blog and maybe a little less quilting. So, here is the soup that I served our first night together. I forgot the recipe, so I adlibbed, but it seemed to work out fine anyway. I made this soup and a salad and some yummy chocolate gluten free cupcakes. My friend RaeAnn struggles with some gluten sensitivity, so I tried to make food that she could enjoy with the rest of us. Tomorrow I am going to my Girl Gang meeting and I'll take a big pot of this soup for them to taste test too.

This photo shows most of the ingredients. It's a very easy recipe and takes only about 10 minutes prep time and 20 minutes to cook. I got this recipe from a friend, who got it from "The Biggest Loser's Plan to Win" by Cheryl Forberg.

African Peanut Stew
* 1 T. olive oil
* 1 medium red onion, chopped
* 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
* 1/2 c. chopped carrot (I use about 1 cup)
* 1/2 c. chopped celery (I use about 3/4 c.)
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 t. minced, peeled fresh ginger
* 1 T. curry powder (I use a heaping T. of yellow curry paste instead)
* 1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes
* 1 bay leaf
* 4 cups vegetable broth (I use double the broth)
* 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut in 1/2" pieces
* 1 1/2 c. shelled edamame
* 1/4 c. creamy or crunchy natural peanut butter or almond butter (I only use almond butter)
* 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
* 1 (5 oz.) bag baby spinach leaves, torn into bite size pieces
* 1/2 t. salt
* coarsely ground black pepper

Method: Heat olive oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, carrot and celery; saute until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger and curry and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute; do not brown garlic. Add tomatoes and bay leaf; cook, uncovered, until tomatoes are slightly reduced about 3 minutes. Add broth and sweet potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer about 8 minutes. Stir in edamame and almond butter until combined. Cook until thoroughly heated, about 2 minutes. Stir in cilantro and spinach until it wilts. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 8 (I cook the soup until it gets thick and creamy like a stew. Takes slightly longer than the recipe.)