Nik's Peanut Stew

Don't ask me why, but I'm always hesitant to share recipes that use specialty ingredients. I guess I want you guys all to have fair access to the food I make, but I think my egalitarian attitude has prevented far too many recipes from going on this blog.

Well, the buck stops here!

I was poking around on Pinterest and found this recipe for West African peanut stew. I was searching on behalf of La Petite Diva (my youngest daughter) because she has been vegetarian for about a year now and so I figure she's committed enough for me to start thinking outside the box (she's my culinarily adventurous child).

So when I went to make it I thought I had all the ingredients but I didn't. And then in thinking about modifications, the inevitable happened. I started thinking "I wonder if this would be good if I added..." Yeah...I started playing with my food!

The result is REALLY yummy. The kid liked it. I liked it. Even though it's got peanut butter, that's not the dominant flavor here. It is noteworthy that this dish can be easily made with chicken (and if you've ever had Thai-style chicken skewers you can relate to the flavor of peanuts and chicken together) to bump up the protein. Just use my meat marinating technique to ensure tender chicken, grill it up and then add it into the recipe where I indicate below!

Nik's Peanut Stew
(Makes about 1 post-op + 3-5 "non-op" servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 onion diced (I used a regular yellow onion)
• 3 tomatoes diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 can of diced carrots, drained
• 1 tsp. of ground ginger
• 1 tsp. garam masala
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. tumeric
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• 2 c. water.
• 1 c. creamy peanut butter (you can use chunky if you like the texture)
• 4 oz. tomato paste
• 1/4 c. hot sauce (I agree with the source recipe...Sriracha is best!)
• 2 cans of garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
• 1 bag (about 3 c.) baby spinach

Directions:

Set a soup pot over medium heat and allow it to get hot. Add olive oil, onions tomatoes and garlic. Sautee 2-3 minutes.

Add peas and carrots along, spices and water, stir, and drop your heat down to low. Cover the pot and allow the mixture to come to a boil.

In a mixing bowl, combine peanut butter with tomato paste (I do this with a whisk but a regular mixing spoon works too) until thoroughly combined. Ladle some of the veggie mixture into the bowl and use it to thin out the mixture before adding it all back into the pot.

Stir well then add the hot sauce. (My advice is to add it 2 tablespoons at a time until you reach a flavor you like. I like spicy food so I just went for it!)

Finally add the garbanzo beans and baby spinach and stir. (NOTE: If you are using cooked chicken meat, add it at this point!) Cover the pot and allow it to simmer on medium-low for 25-30 minutes (just to let the flavors love on one another).

I served La Petite Diva hers over brown rice and mine over cauliflower rice. I like this! It's tart, creamy and savory all at the same time. I love "eating outside the box!"

Here are some outtake pictures:

Nik's Roasted Red Pepper Puree Soup

Show here with two Parmesan crisps. To make, simply bake small heaps of Parmesan cheese in a 350 degree oven until they harden, about 12 minutes.

I like this soup. A LOT.

What I like best about it is its versatility. For newer post-ops this soup is quick, comforting and gives you something that is not sweet. For longer-term folks this is a great base to a bajillion other things!

Let’s get right to the recipe. This is a “semi-homemade” sort of deal. The recipe resulted from an overage of roasted red pepper bruschetta topping I made for a baby shower. So I decided to make it into a soup.

I’ll let you know both the semi-homemade and the for-real homemade versions of this. Here we go!

Nik's Roasted Red Pepper Puree Soup

• 1 medium yellow onion quartered
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
• Any other random veggies you have hanging out (the above had zucchini, yellow squash, spinach and a bit of eggplant I had hanging out in the fridge)
• Non-stick cooking spray
• 2 (12 oz.) jars of roasted red peppers, preferably in oil (you can get any kind you like – in my store I saw it with garlic and one that was spicy. I chose the spicy one) Here's what they look like BUT don't buy online, get it from the grocery store!
• 1 small can of sliced black olives
• 1/2 c. water
• ½ c. fat-free half and half or milk
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place the quartered onion, garlic cloves and any veggies you use (except spinach or other greens). Spray them generously with non-stick cooking spray and roast for about 20 minutes or until onions begin to caramelize (brown). Roast the vegetables before proceeding to the next step.

In a colander, drain jarred red peppers of the excess oil but do not rinse (if you buy peppers packed in water, you'll probably want to use a little oil - a teaspoon or so - in the next step).

Spray a small pot with non-stick cooking spray and allow it get hot. Place red peppers in the pot, along with any leafy greens (like spinach), olives, your roasted veggies and spices. If the mixture lacks moisture (there should be a little bit of liquid in there) add some water. After stirring, add your milk or half and half.

Bring the mixture to a boil and then drop the heat to low and simmer about 20 minutes. Add half and half. Then, using an immersion blender OR working in batches with a regular blender, puree the soup. Allow it to simmer an additional 10 minutes.

TO MAKE COMPLETELY HOMEMADE: When you roast the rest of your veggies, roast about 5 or 6 red peppers as well. When the peppers are done roasting you’ll need to let them cool so you can remove their skins. Because you are pureeing the soup you don’t need to slice them unless you want to. Instead of using non-stick in the pot with your veggies after roasting, heat 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil then add the veggies in to cook along with any water you use. That’s it!

So you can eat this soup straight up but it’s a bit rich. I didn’t take pics of all the ways I used mine (I had a big batch) but here are some things I did:

• For my vegetarian daughter I tossed some spinach/cheese ravioli and that became her dinner one night
• I added some jumbo shrimp and ate some over zoodles (noodles made with zucchini using a vegetable spiralizer)

One day for a quick lunch I combined some leftover cheesy mashed cauliflower with the soup and a few left over mini-crab cakes (from an event I attended) and made a super yummy lunch (picture below)

In my humble opinion this soup would also go very well with frying cheese. Never heard of it? It’s a cheese that’s sold in some supermarkets (Trader Joe’s sells it as do a lot of ethnic supermarkets). It’s a mild, buttery cheese that comes in big blocks. When you throw it in a pan, it crisps on the outside and gets soft on the inside just like…a grilled cheese sandwich! I think a hunk of frying cheese would go great with this as a dipper.

Any way you decide to have it, though, it’s gonna be GOOD!