Senegalese Peanut Stew (Vegetarian)

OMG. Stop what you are doing right now and go to the grocery if you have to because you have GOT to have this chowder and like NOW.


OK.  So here's the deal.  People who know me know that the world's two most perfect foods are peanut butter and popcorn.  So any recipe that contains either of these ingredients is bound to be good. But this recipe is exceptional.  And believe it or not, I got it off the Weight Watchers site.

It claims to be a Senegalese peanut stew.  An unusual list of spices to fancy up the broth, I'll give you, but I was ready to stop cooking and start eating before I had even put the peanut butter in the pot.  The combination of broth, cloves, cayenne pepper, ginger and a dash of salt is pure genius.  The bell peppers were my favorite vegetable part of this chowder, but I do love me some spinach and sweet potatoes.  I mean, everything about this just made my heart soar.  My tongue is so very happy right now.

Please, promise me you'll try this.

Oh, and I didn't have everything so the modifications I made were to substitute about 3/4 teaspoon of ground ginger for the fresh ginger and I didn't measure the spinach, I just used a 10 oz. package of fresh.  And I didn't stem, pack or chop it.  Sister, please.  Spinach is available in the stores now and the prices aren't out of hand.  So I've been regularly buying fresh.  I had fat-free vegetable broth, but it wasn't low sodium, and I added all the salt the recipe called for.  It wasn't too salty and those of you in the know know how sensitive I am to salt. I didn't "thinly slice" the carrots.  They were pretty chunky.  Also, if you cook this over medium heat, you aren't going to have to scrape any "brown bits" off the bottom of the pan.  D'uh.

Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 5
Kcalories: 200 per serving
Total fat: 8g; saturated fat: 1g
Total carbs: 25g
Dietary fiber: 6g
Protein: 9g
Difficulty: easy
Course: soups
Category: vegetarian
Serving size: 1 2/3 cup
Servings per recipe: 6

1 spray(s) cooking spray
2 medium onion(s), roughly chopped
1 medium green pepper(s), cored and roughly chopped
1/2 pound(s) sweet potato(es), peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
2 medium carrot(s), peeled and thinly sliced
2 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s), minced
2 Tbsp ginger root, fresh, minced
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 cup(s) vegetable broth, reduced-sodium
6 Tbsp peanut butter, natural, creamy-variety
8 cup(s) spinach, leaves, stemmed, packed, chopped

Coat a large saucepan with cooking spray and set over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes.  Stir in the sweet potato, carrots and garlic; cook for 1 minute, stirring often. Add the ginger, cloves, salt and cayenne; cook for 30 seconds.  Pour in the vegetable broth and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth.  Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer slowly, stirring once in a while, until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.  Add the spinach; cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Yields about 1 2/3 cups per serving.Keep the heat low as the soup simmers so the peanut butter doesn't break (that is, in culinary terms, "doesn't fall out of suspension" or separate).