African Chicken Peanut Soup

For those of you that are Top Chef fans you may have seen Carla get rave reviews for her African Peanut Soup a couple of weeks ago on Top Chef All Stars. I was very intrigued by the dish, it looked delicious and was something different from my usual soup recipes. I remember my dad talking about eating Peanut Soup while in Africa with the Peace Corp back in the seventies- now I am pretty sure that his contained fried grasshoppers or ants or something else along those lines... or perhaps I am confusing my stories. Regardless, I thought it would be fun to try it out (without the fried insects)!

I ended up searching online for African Peanut Soup and came across the below recipe on Cooking Light.  It had over 80 positive reviews, many people stating that this was their favorite soup recipe.  I was sold and after making it last night have no objections to all of the great reviews. This soup was awesome. The soup is incredibly filling, quick to make and low in calories and fat.

African Chicken Peanut Soup
** from Cooking Light
print recipe

Serves 6-8
Prep/Cook Time: 30 minutes

1 1/2 cups cubed peeled sweet potato
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast (about 8 ounces)
1 cup bottled salsa
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 (16-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 (15-ounce) cans Healthy Choice Chicken With Rice Soup or any less-sodium chicken-and-rice soup, undiluted
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

Heat a large dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat.  Add a teaspoon of olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Add the first five ingredients (through jalapeno pepper) to the pan and sautee for about 5 minutes.  Add the chicken and next four ingredients (through the black beans) and bring to a boil.  Once the soup is boiling reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes add the peanut butter, stirring with a whisk, cook for about 2 minutes.