Vegetarian Spicy African Peanut Soup, 5 points+

Happy Monday all! I really wish I knew the secret of the days that I am completely satisfied with everything I eat versus the days that I am totally ravenous and never seem to feel “full”.  Lucky for me, today was one of the rare days that I woke up not hungry at all.

I even left the house with oatmeal in hand, but, I never really ended being hungry.  So, breakfast became my Tall Nonfat Latte with caramel drizzled on top and a banana.

Simple, Simply Filling! or 3 points+

I actually never thought about lunch until I looked at the clock and realized it was 1 pm (over 5 hours after my latte).  So, let’s talk soup for a minute.

While making up my Vegetarian Weekly Menu this week, I came across this interesting soup recipe for African Peanut Soup in my Weight Watcher’s Veg Power Book.  The soup intrigued me because it’s spicy, has peanut butter and kale. Yep, that pretty much sums me up and all it takes to get me to try a recipe LOL. Oh and did I mention, you get to use your slow cooker too?

This recipe is my spin on the Weight Watchers Veg Power Spicy African Peanut Soup. The peanut butter gives this soup an amazing rich, nutty flavor that stands out against the sweet kale and tangy fire roasted tomatoes. The chickpeas add a creamy nuttiness to fill you up and keep you going back for more.

VEGETARIAN SPICY AFRICAN PEANUT SOUP (print it!)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 6 cups vegetable broth, divided
• 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
• 15 oz. can fire roasted, diced tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 3 cups of kale, finely shredded
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion and sauté until browned, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the garlic, ginger and crushed red pepper flakes and cook an additional 30 seconds.  Remove from heat and deglaze the pan with 5 cups of the veggie broth.  Transfer to your slow cooker.

2.  Whisk the peanut butter with the remaining one cup of vegetable broth.  Pour mixture into the soup.  Add the tomatoes, bay leaf and cayenne pepper.  Cover and cook in your slow cooker 4-6 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.

3.  15 minutes before serving add the kale and the chickpeas.  Turn the slow cooker off, sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Makes 8 heaping 1 cup servings that are Simply Filling + 3 WPA or 5 points+

Nutritional information per serving calculated at caloriecount.com

STEP – BY – STEP:

My slow cooker consists of putting this pan on top of a hot pad so I did everything in this pan.  You could however, break it down using a pan on your stove to sauté, then, pour it all into your slower cooker.

Heat 1 Tbsp. canola oil over medium heat.  Add chopped onion and cook until browned, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, prep your aromatics ~ garlic, ginger and crushed red pepper flakes (for heat part 1).

Stir in the aromatics and continue cooking for about 30 seconds.

Remove your pan from the heat and deglaze it with 5 cups vegetable broth.

FUN TIP: I read about this super cool trick that works for natural nut butters in one of my mom’s magazines awhile back.  If you store them upside down, then, all the oils go to the bottom of the jar.  When it comes time to open them, the oil is on the bottom making it so much easier to stir and not get all over the jar.

Whisk the remaining 1 cup vegetable broth with 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter.

Pour it, along with the can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, 1 oz. sun dried tomatoes, 1 or 2 bay leaves and 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (heat number 2) into the pan.

Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours or high for 6-8 hours.

15 minutes before serving, add the chopped kale

Plus the drained and rinsed chickpeas.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Remove from the slow cooker and add cilantro.  Season to taste if needed with a little sea salt and black pepper.

Seriously delicious, spicy, peanutty good. Dare I say it’s like a Spicy Thai Peanut African soup.  I say that because I’ve never actually had real deal African Peanut Soup so I cannot tell you how this soup compares.

I had a cup of grapes, blueberries and strawberries for dessert that I snacked on all afternoon.

Until, I finally got hungry at 5 pm (SF) – 2 points+

I am probably the only person I know that has to convince herself to NOT eat all the brussels sprouts while I waited for The Husband to get home to eat dinner.

I suppose there could be worse things I could eat….

I think the Baked Pasta with Cheese, Spinach and Sun Dried Tomatoes tastes even better the next day because all the flavors melt together. (SF + 2 WPA)

I had about 2 x’s this many sprouts….what can I say? I love them!

I did have 2 slices of The Husband’s Alexia Garlic bread when he brought it out of the oven. (SF + 3 WPA) – 3 points+

Here are my stats for today:

• Simple Filling (SF): 8 WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) used, 36 WPA remaining
• 20 Daily Points+ 0 WPA used, 49 WPA remaining
• 1/3 of the way through Meatless March and so far I am loving it.
• 175 pushups down, 750 to go (with a makeup 75)
• My FitBit Dashboard

Tomorrow I am meeting one of my great friends for lunch.  I’ve convinced her to try the grilled veggie sandwich I had last week along with some onion rings and pickled veggies – yum!

Night all!