Sunday Soup Day: Peanut Chicken Stew

I think I decided that I'm most interested in creating soups with an ethnic flair. Don't get me wrong, the chicken noodle soup that I made last time was out of this world, but I'm most comfortable experimenting with new flavors.

This week I used an idea from allrecipes.com and made my own version of African chicken stew. It included a variety of African spices (cummin, coriander, etc.), chicken, sweet potatoes, beans, veggies and peanut butter. That's right, peanut butter.

Here's how it went: I cooked the chicken (breast and thigh meat) in my Dutch oven first then removed it and sauteed the vegetables with spices. Then I added chicken broth, garbanzo beans, diced tomatoes and more spices before finally putting the chicken back in the pot and adding the peanut butter.

There was so much flavor in this soup I still can't describe it accurately. The spices gave it a non-American taste with a little kick. I'm sure my dad wouldn't like it. The combination of breast and thigh meat made for a hint of a gamey taste, which I like because you can tell it's homemade. The peanut butter reminded me of a Thai dish, but combined with everything it made for a unique dish that I'm almost certain you'd find in a small village in West Africa.

I make enough soup each Sunday for 10+ people because we always have visitors, but this weekend it was just me. I'm not complaining because I've had a few extra bowls already this week and I'm still enjoying the superfluity of flavors.

If you're reading this blog, do yourself a favor and make this soup! I'd love to hear what you think about it.

Ingredients:
2 pounds of chicken, cut into 1" cubes (breast and thigh meat)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion
1 sweet potato
2 stalks celery
5 ounces carrots
2 cloves garlic
1 carton low sodium chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can garbanzo beans
2 ounces chopped spinach
1 small bunch green onions
3/4 cup natural chunky peanut butter (I used Smucker's)
1 teaspoon ground cummin
1 teaspoon ground corriander
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon African seasoning (I bought it at TJ Maxx...)