Soul-warming & Spicy African Tomato Peanut Soup

Never in my life have I wanted to share a recipe as badly as this one. Good grief. This soup is GOOD. Common ingredients, rich, and filling. The flavor will blow you away.

I made minor changes to this recipe posted by Gourmet on epicurious.com. Gourmet's recipe uses a few more canned ingredients that might make it easier for you to make this.

I enjoyed the texture and am glad I didn't puree it. If you do puree it, you may not want to let it boil down so much, or it may become too thick.

If you want to serve this with grains, I recommend crackers or flatbread instead of bread.

The peanut butter demands to be paired with a glass of cold, whole, milk. Please don't disappoint the peanut butter.

Soul-warming & Spicy African Tomato Peanut Soup

Serves 2-3 (as a main course, when served with milk. Don't forget the milk)

1 medium onion, chopped

1/4 tsp salt --I used sea salt

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1 T vegetable oil (I bet coconut oil would be delicious)

a few drops of sesame oil (optional)

1 3/4 tsp curry powder (Start with 1 tsp, and add more to suit your taste)

4 medium-small sized tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 3/4 C chicken broth (use vegetable broth to make this vegetarian)

2 T tomato paste

1 C hot water

1/3 C chunky peanut butter (I like Adams brand, which has no extra salt or sugar)

1/4 to 1/2 tsp dried cilantro

1/2 tsp lime juice

Cook the onion, oil, salt and pepper in a medium sized saucepan or a small stockpot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until the onions begin to turn brown, about 5 minutes.

Stir the curry powder into the onions. Keep stirring. About 30 seconds later, when you begin to smell the spices, add the tomatoes, broth, and tomato paste. Simmer, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the soup simmers, blend the peanut butter into the hot water. Then add the peanut butter-water mixture to the soup. Let the soup simmer uncovered for another 5 minutes. Add the cilantro, stir, and taste test. You may need to add another tablespoon of tomato paste.

Let the soup boil down another 5 minutes, or until it's your perfect soup consistency.

Add the lime juice. This is the kicker. Taste-test, and you should feel like you've tasted a bit of spicy heaven.

Enjoy! I hope it's so good, you want to take a ladleful to your neighbor. ;) Please comment on how you liked it, changed it, or any other ideas you have for it. :)