African Yam and Peanut Soup from Rebar Cookbook

I religiously followed the recipe for this soup from the Rebar cookbook and it was delicious. We just had this for dinner with a beet + carrot garbanzo bean salad and some crusty bread. Well Dave had the crusty bread and I had the non-crusty rice bread.  One small thing about this soup. It tends to explode a little in your blender when you mix it up. Don’t overload your blender or look out!

• 8 cups vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 2 tsp. salt
• 6 tbsp minced ginger
• 4 large garlic cloves
• 3 tomatoes
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 4 medium yams, peeled (or not) and roughly chopped
• 1 14 fl oz can water-packed pineapple, juice reserved
• 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 5 tbsp natural smooth peanut butter
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped (optional)
• Juice of 2 limes, or more to taste
• Favourite hot sauce, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat stock and keep it warm on the back burner while you assemble the soup.
2. In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and a pinch of salt; sauté for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Next, add garlic, ginger, and spices and sauté until soft and golden.
3. Stir in red pepper, yams, and salt and continue cooking until they start to stick to the bottom of the pot. Add vegetable stock to cover, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover partially and
   simmer until the yams are tender.
4. Add pineapple with juice, tomatoes, peanut butter, and remaining stock and simmer 30 minutes.
   Purée the soup until smooth, either directly in the pot with a hand blender, or in batches using a food
   processor.
5. Return soup to the pot and simmer for a final 10 minutes. Season to taste with more salt,
   pineapple juice, and/or hot sauce. Just before serving, add chopped cilantro and fresh lime juice.

Serves 8.

From Rebar Modern Food Cookbook

I’ve also made Greek Red Lemon Lentil Soup with Rosemary and Feta from the Rebar Cookbook and it was also fabulous.