The Best Soup Ever

Lu brought us this recipe from Mark Bittman's NYT column. It was absolutely delicious and got better over time. I called this soup the "sacred leftovers"-- it was so good, everyone was afraid to eat it.
We ate ours with roasted asparagus, Trader Joe's cornbread and some red peppers (not quite sure what those were doing there...)


West African sweet-potato peanut soup with chicken:

3/4 cup roasted and shelled peanuts

2 tablespoons peanut or neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn

1 medium red or white onion, chopped

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken (about 2 thighs or breasts) cut into chunks

Pinch of cayenne

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 cups stock or water

2 sweet potatoes or yams (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into thick slices

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

1/2 pound collards or kale, washed and cut into wide ribbons

1/2 cup chunky, natural peanut butter

1. Chop peanuts, or crush them with the side of a knife, or pulse them in a food processor to chop roughly.

2. Put oil in a deep skillet or medium saucepan over medium heat; a minute later, add onion, ginger and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add chicken and continue cooking for another 3 or 4 minutes, until just coloring. Add 1/2 cup peanuts and the cayenne and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Stir in the stock and the sweet potatoes, bring to a boil, and turn heat down to medium-low so the soup bubbles gently. Stir in tomatoes and collards, then cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.

4. Stir in 1/4 cup peanut butter. Taste, adjust seasoning (you may want to add more peanut butter at this point) and serve, garnished with remaining peanuts.

Yield: 4 servings.