As a I stepped on the scale this morning, I decided it was time to share my innovative weight-loss plan. You know, as a kind of public service. This ground-breaking plan is sure to get results in a matter of days. The first step is to take two young children, preferably your own, to the local ice skating rink. To achieve optimal effectiveness, make sure that at least one of the kids has no skating experience. As you are teaching the two aspiring Apollo Ohnos to skate, they are bound to fall multiple times. Without bending your knees, grab their hands and haul them to their feet. Be sure to do this at least 5 times each time you circle the ice rink. That should get the job done.
Let’s move onto step two. When you wake up the morning after the skating escapade, you will find that your back is a little sore. In an attempt to loosen it, take a brisk 3-mile walk. You are well on your way now. Throughout the day, you will find that your back stiffens to the point of sending spasmodic pain throughout your body. By this point, you should no longer be able to walk. Crawling will likely be the only mode of transportation to get you to the bathroom and back, which will help to build strong shoulder and bicep muscles. The real beauty of this plan, however, is that you will not be able to make it to the fridge. Unless your family is bringing you regular snacks, your calorie consumption will plummet. Voilà – quick and effective weight loss.
All kidding aside, it has been a difficult and uncomfortable week of back pain that is thankfully subsiding (though skating with my kids was really fun, so it was worth it). I am now upright, but am still trying to limit my trips to the fridge. Perhaps I should just concentrate on healthful eating, which is what led me to make this satisfying vegetarian soup. Filled with vegetables, such as sweet potatoes and tomatoes, and protein from chickpeas, this soup could be paired with a green salad for a complete meal.
Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. A chopped medium onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the edges of the onion starts to brown, 3 to 4 minutes.
Stir in 3 minced garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander, 1/2 cinnamon stick, and a pinch of ground cloves.
Cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Chop 3 medium tomatoes, peel and chop 2 sweet potatoes (1 1/2 pounds total), and peel and chop 1 large carrot. Add the vegetables to the onion mixture and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in 5 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until the sweet potatoes and carrots are tender.
Remove the soup from the heat and let cool for about 10 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick. Using a blender (hand-immersion or regular) or food processor, blend the soup until almost a puree. It may be necessary to do this in a couple of batches.
Return the soup to the pot and stir in a pinch of cayenne pepper, 1/4 cup dry-roasted, unsalted peanuts, and 2 tablespoons peanut butter. Whisk until the peanut butter is completely combined into the soup.
Drain and rinse 1 can (14 oz.) chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and stir into the soup.
Reheat the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.
Other soups and stews with peanuts:
Kalyn’s Kitchen’s West African Chicken & Peanut Stew with Chiles, Ginger & Green Onions
A Veggie Venture’s Slow Cooker Peanut Soup
Green Gourmet Giraffe’s Curried Cauliflower, Spinach & Peanut Soup
African Tomato & Peanut Soup with Sweet Potato & Chickpeas
Adapted from Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons
1 tbsp canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 pinch ground cloves
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 (1 1/2 lb. total) sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
5 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup dry-roasted, unsalted peanuts
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 can (14 oz.) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnishing
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. A chopped medium onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the edges of the onion starts to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in garlic, ginger, cumin, ground coriander, cinnamon stick, and a pinch of ground cloves. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrot to the onion mixture and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in water and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until the sweet potatoes and carrots are tender.
Remove the soup from the heat and let cool for about 10 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick. Using a blender (hand-immersion or regular) or food processor, blend the soup until almost a puree. It may be necessary to do this in a couple of batches. Return the soup to the pot and stir in a pinch of cayenne pepper, 1/4 cup dry-roasted, unsalted peanuts, and 2 tablespoons peanut butter. Whisk until the peanut butter is completely combined into the soup.
Stir chickpeas into the soup. Reheat the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.
Serves 4 to 6.
Jessica @ How Sweet says
Glad the back pain is subsiding! I have never had a soup like this and it sounds delicious!
Maria says
I recently made a black bean and sweet potato soup. Loved it. I will have to try this recipe next time. I am glad you are starting to feel better!
Chef Fresco says
This looks like a wonderful soup… better hurry up and try it before it gets to warm. We recently made this little jewel that had a ton of great flavor.
pegasuslegend says
a perfect sweet soup and so full of every flavor I love all in one bowl ! wow!!!
Divina Pe says
Wow, this soup if full of goodness. I absolutely love sweet potatoes and spices so will be making this when sweet potatoes are available. Hope your back has fully recovered. Take care.
Kalyn says
My back hurts just hearing that description! So sorry you're having such a crummy week. The soup certainly looks good though. I'm craving sweet potatoes lately.
Brisbane Baker says
Hahaha I love it!
A good way to try and trick myself into more walking around is window shopping.. I walked about 5000 steps the other day just looking around, constantly promising myself that I can buy one thing.. I came home with about 10 things, money well spent for that much more excercise 🙂
Lovely soup. Makes me hungry :):)
Ben / letsstartsimple.com says
Wow, I love it! Just sounds like a great soup. I have actually never even considered peanuts in soups. What a bad mistake, as it seems to turn out!
Cheers,
Ben
Oh and by the way, I hope your back feels better already!
Table Talk says
Great story; you are funny :0
On a more serious note, this soup is full of nutrition, sure to get anyone on their way to feeling good!
I love my immersion blender—it's the best.
noonionplease says
Hello! This looks really delicious! Just yesterday I made a similar soup (sweet potatoe-peanuts, you can see it on my blog) but Thai style. The spices you have used seem also delicious with this favor combo. I will definitely try this one!
Nicole says
Hope your back pain continues to feel better and go away. I imagine the tastes of this soup combine so well, potatoes, chickpeas and peanuts…what a great combo!
Lydia (Soup Chick) says
Ouch! I think I'm having sympathy back pain. I do love the combination of peanut and squash, or pumpkin, in West African soups. Even without the chickpeas (not my favorite), this soup would be delicious. I'm bookmarking.
Trix says
Well, African food is one of my very favorite things in the world to make and to eat, and this looks fabulous! Into the rotation it goes! I hope your back feels better, back pain is the WORST. Take it easy!
Julie says
LOVE peanut soups! And I'm always looking to incorporate more beans into our meals – thanks for this!! Sorry to hear about your back – that's the worst.
Cookin' Canuck says
I appreciate all of your kind comments about the soup and my back. Thanks to the care of my family and friends, I am on the mend.
Gera @ SweetsFoodsBlog says
Wonderful comfort food with glorious pictures…craving one of the photos 🙂
You should read my post with tips about how to avoid back problems, that it can be useful 😉
Hope you're a little better now!!
Cheers,
Gera
Fuji Mama says
Ok, I am laughing so hard that I actually have tears in my eyes! I wish your weight loss plan wasn't so painful–you poor thing! All kidding aside, this soup looks wonderful. I hope you get better!
brattypants says
Love the weight loss plan – way too funny!!!
The soup looks delish and so healthy! Hopefully I will remember to pick up the ingredients this weekend, I really want to try it! Yum!
megan says
yum, this soup looks so unique and good! I have to hurry and get all my soups in before the weather warms up too much. I like warm weather, but I prefer cold weather cooking. I can't wait to try this
Claudia says
Oh ginger… cumin… all those delectable spices. I am still in soup mode. Grand recipe.
marit says
yummers! i'm always looking for new ways to use sweet potatoes – my favorite! thanks for the new recipe!
5 Star Foodie says
The combination of tomatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts and chickpeas sounds terrific in this delicious soup! I hope you're feeling all better 🙂
Kajal - Aapplemint says
This soup is so delightful Kinda reminds me of the taditional West African soup we have here called the groundnut soup. But this is a wonderful version. A must try !
alice says
Saw this featured on Tasty Kitchen and I plan on making this soon! Thanks for the lovely recipe.
julÄ— says
just tried it – my first encounter with sweet potatoes!
i halved the recipe, but it still made a WHOLE pot – at least 4-5 main course servings. maybe my potato was HUGE?
i made a mistake and added too many tomatoes – 3 medium (canned – that's a ll i had) ones instead of 1,5, so it came out a bit too tomato-y for my liking, but still – great. loving the chickpeas – their nutiness goes great with the peanuts!
Karina Allrich says
Ouch on the back pain. Hope you're mended by now. Just popped in from Facebook- Congrats on this recipe – it sounds delicious! I love sweet potato soup with peanut butter and spices. So tasty.
Mr News says
I bought all the ingredients for this at the Farmers Market today, and am making it tomorrow. Sounds fantastic!
One question: there are two variations on the amount of ginger. Your narrative says 1 TBS, but looks like the original recipe says 3 TBS. I'll use 2 and call it even…
Thanks for the recipe, eh? I've had my share of backaches from skating, but that was hockey, not kids. Thankfully retired now, LOL.
Cookin' Canuck says
Mr. News – Ack! Thank you for catching that. It should read 1 tbsp minced ginger, NOT 3 tbsp. I hope you enjoy it!
Mr News says
Okay: I made this a few days ago, and it was really quite easy, and absolutely delicious! Used a couple shallots instead of regular onion, and a few more dry-roasted peanuts and a few less chickpeas, but otherwise followed the map. Wonderfully flavorful and so healthy!!
Planning Kalyn's West African Chicken & Peanut Stew next: a friend just gave me some jalapeños from her garden…
Chloe says
Looks good! Although ‘African’ and ‘Tomato’ do not usually go together. Tomatoes are from South America. How can the soup be African?
Dara says
Hi Chloe, here is a good article on the history of peanut soup/stew: https://www.ehow.com/about_5503519_history-african-peanut-soup.html It originates from several west African countries. It’s absolutely delicious!