Years ago, I discovered and then lost a wonderful recipe for West African peanut stew with chicken. In my search for the original recipe, I found the recipe for West African Peanut Stew by Mark Bittman @nytcooking and that provided a starting point for me to reconstruct the original recipe and channel some of my love of West Indian-African inspired cooking. Full of warm flavors like ginger, garlic, and curry powder; along with tender kale, red tomatoes, and bright orange sweet potatoes or yams, this fragrant, sweet-and-savory, hearty stew can be made vegetarian without sacrificing flavor by leaving out the chicken. If you’re like me and love the flavor combination of peanuts, coconut, garlic, ginger, and curry and want a stew full of colorful, healthy veggies, this one’s for you.

Serves 6
Ingredients:

• ¾ cup roasted and shelled peanuts

• 2 tablespoons peanut or other neutral oil, like canola or corn (*Note: I wanted to include more coconut flavor, so I used coconut oil.)

• 1 medium red or white onion, chopped

• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

• 1 tablespoon minced garlic

• 2 teaspoon curry powder (use 1 teaspoon if you want less curry flavor)

• 1 ½ pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs cut into chunks

• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded, and minced finely (If you want to “kick-it-up-a-notch”add ¼ teaspoon of cayenne along with the jalapeño, or substitute a Scotch Bonnet pepper.)

• Salt

• freshly ground black pepper

• 5 cups chicken stock + 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

• 2 sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and cut into thick slices

• 8 plum tomatoes, cored and halved (canned are fine; drain and reserve liquid for another use)

• 4 packed cups of kale, stems removed, torn into pieces

• ½ – 1 cup peanut butter, chunky or smooth

• ¼ cup cilantro for garnish

Preparation:

1. Chop the peanuts or pulse them in a food processor to chop coarsely.

2. Put oil in a heavy bottom pot over medium heat; a minute later, add onion, ginger, garlic and curry powder and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, 3 to 5 minutes.

3. Add chicken and continue cooking for another 3 or 4 minutes, until the pink surface color disappears.

4. Add 1/2 cup peanuts and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

5. Stir in the stock and coconut milk and the sweet potatoes, bring to a boil, and turn the heat down to medium-low so the soup bubbles gently.

6. Stir in the tomatoes and kale, then cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.

7. Stir in 3/4 cup peanut butter. Taste, adjust seasoning (you may want to add more peanut butter at this point) and serve, garnished with remaining peanuts and cilantro.

Wine pairing: a Chenin Blanc, Viognier, or dry Riesling will pair nicely with this dish.

Adapted from: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012581-west-african-peanut-soup-with-chicken