A while back, my midwife (and friend) brought my family some delicious African Groundnut Stew, and I’ve been wanting to recreate it ever since. Over the weekend, I boiled a beautiful organic chicken, thinking we would enjoy said chicken all week, but then husband magically got the entire week off work, so we’ve been playing vacation, which means lots of meals out. I was very concerned that the beautiful (expensive) organic bird would get wasted, then I thought of the soft, spicy groundnut stew and what a wonderful accompaniment it would make for the chicken. Not to mention, it will freeze well, so we can hit the town for our meals this week and gobble up the stew and the expensive chicken when we are back to reality next week.

Done.

When I asked Racha for the recipe, she said it was more a “feeling” than a recipe, and I found this to be true. I will tell you what I did, but this really is all about improvising with your tastes, and what you have on hand.

1 huge yam, peeled and cut into chunks

1 russet potato, peeled and cut into chunks

5 stalks celery, chopped

1 large yellow onion, chopped

4 large garlic cloves, minced

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

1 28 ounce can tomatoes

2 cups chicken stock

Dump all of it into a crock pot

Added the following:

1/2 teaspoon coriander

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1 tsp sea salt

Cooked on high for 5 1/2 hours, stirring about once an hour.

Then:

1 cup roasted, salted peanuts, processed until I made peanut butter (can always sub 1/2 cup natural peanut butter-no sugar)

Add to crock pot and let bubble for another 20 minutes.

You’re done, or you can add cooked chicken if you wanna copy me.

This tastes amazing. Think pad thai without the cloying sweetness. This would be great with rice, or noodles, or a mess of sauteed green beans, or spaghetti squash, or tofu, or…