African Chicken Peanut Soup

I love fall and today was a great fall day. The air was crisp and chilly, but not too cold. With the exception of a short torrential downpour, the weather was great. And, since it was my day off, it turned out to be a perfect day for me to spend the afternoon making soup. It's been a while since I cooked! (But really, let's be honest, I needed to occupy myself by being a busy-body so as not to worry about our little Dimitri who was at the vet getting neutered today). So, last night, my husband requested I make one of his favorite soups: African Chicken Peanut Soup.

This soup is a great dish for the fall. It has all the essentials of comforting soup like chicken, rice, and vegetables like celery and carrots. But, it also has some oomph to it as well. Salsa, black beans, red pepper and cumin make it interesting. It also has sweet potatoes and, of course, peanut butter. All of these ingredients combine to make a wonderfully interesting bowl of goodness after stewing in the crock-pot for hours.

The recipe says to prepare some ingredients in a dutch oven. I really just chop everything up and toss it all into the crock-pot for a few hours. I usually add some other spices (garlic and red chili flakes) if I want to kick it up a notch. Today, I used hot salsa, so no other spices were needed. It was perfect on it's own. And it was so good! Sometimes, I switch the type of salsa I use which keeps the recipe always evolving! I also served it with some wheat pita bread for dipping.





Oh, and Dimitri is home safe and recovering very well :)