Incorporating Cooking:
Peanut Soup (West Africa)
Here's a recipe passed along by Donna Godfrey when she was doing a unit study on Africa. She was right, this is a really good soup. Its creamy rather than chunky.
Ingredients:
2 cups chopped onion
1 Tblsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp cayenne or other ground chiles
1 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cups chopped sweet potatoes
4 cups vegetable stock or water
2 cups tomato juice
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 Tblsp sugar
chopped scallions
chopped roasted peanuts
Directions:
1. Saute onion in oil until it is transluscent.
2. Stir in cayenne and ginger.
3. Add carrots and saute a couple minutes more.
4. Mix in potatoes and stock, bring to a boil, simmer 15 minutes (until the vegetables are tender).
5. Puree the vegetables with tomato juice (and some of the cooking liquid if necessary) in a blender or food processor.
6. Return the puree to the pot.
7. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth.
8. Check sweetness and add sugar if necessary.
9. Reheat gently, using a heat difuser if necessary to prevent scorching.
10. Add more water, stock, or tomato juice to make a thinner soup if desired.
11. Serve topped with plenty of chopped scallions and chopped roasted peanuts.
Serves 6-8
