West African Peanut and Chicken Stew

A while back my friend Susi forwarded me a recipe for West African Peanut Soup with Chicken. She said that she & her husband loved the flavor of it except they had been making it as more of a stew than a soup. Well, I looked at the list of ingredients, peanuts, ginger, garlic, kale, tomato, sweet potato, & knew it was something Matt & I would love too.

I agreed with Susi that is sounded better as a stew so, I adjusted the liquids in the recipe quite a bit. I left out almost all the stock but, unlike the original recipe I added the juice of the tomatoes. This was just enough liquid to cook the sweet potatoes in & make a nice sauce. The other main change I made was to add some Sriracha, the final dish really improved with a touch of heat.

This was a fantastic meal. We really liked the way the peanut flavor went with all the other ingredients, even kale. I've made other African dishes like this in the past & have found them rather bland so, I was happy that this one was so full of flavor. It is quite a hearty dish so, you could even skip the rice we served it over but, we like to have something to soak up the extra sauce.

West African Peanut & Chicken Stew
(adapted from the New York Times)

2 T peanut or canola oil
1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled & minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb of boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into 1/4-inch slices
14.5 oz can of crushed or chopped tomatoes
1 c chicken stock or broth
1/4 t cayenne
4 oz kale, chopped, tough stems removed
3/4 c peanuts, roughly chopped by hand or in a food processor
1/4 - 1/2 c peanut butter (I used somewhere in the middle)
Sriracha
salt & pepper
hot rice

In a large high sided skillet or sauce pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, ginger & garlic & cook until the onion softens, about 3 - 4 minutes. Add the chicken & sauté another 5 minutes. Add the sweet potato, tomatoes (including juices). stock, cayenne, kale & 1/2 c of the peanuts. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover & let simmer until the chicken is cooked through & the sweet potatoes are tender, about 20 - 25 minutes.

Stir in the 1/4 cup peanut butter & a few squirts of Sriracha (judge based on how hot you like things). Taste & add more peanut butter if you wish plus salt & pepper as needed.

Serve over hot rice. Sprinkle servings with remaining peanuts.

Makes 4 - 5 servings.

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