The Hubster and I had a most-wonderful opportunity to visit the home of some of our besties, The Bollingers (Holly Bolli, and J-Bolli – and the Bolli Kiddos) with Links International for a night of vision for their sweet missionary friends from Africa (to learn more, click HERE). Holly decided to hire Life As She Does It to create some yummies for everyone's tummies; but the huge hit of the night was my African Chicken Peanut Stew. Americans and Africans alike loved this dish! I have been asked over and over for the recipe since then (thank you!) but had to work on sizing the recipe down a bit since the pot I made was full of enough for an ARMY.

I had THE BEST time and I learned SO MUCH from our (yep! They are OUR friends now, too!) African missionary friends. In the meantime, trust that even though we didn’t get the very best photo of the stew, it was SO DELICIOUS. AND SO COMFORTING. It is also rather healthy, whether you like it or not! For vegetarians, leave out the chicken. This is hearty with it or without and is PERFECT for the autumn or winter weather! It’s perfect to freeze and reheat, too! ENJOY!!

AFRICAN CHICKEN PEANUT STEW

¼ cup peanut oil
1 red onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced finely
4 tbs minced ginger or 2 tbs ginger paste
1 pkg chicken thighs, chunked
1 pkg chicken breast, chunked
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbs garlic powder
2 boxes chicken broth (or vegetable broth if going vegetarian)
2 small yams (or sweet potatoes), peeled and chunked
1 can rotel
1 ½ cups collard greens or kale, chopped coarsely
1 1/2 cups chunky peanut butter

Heat the peanut oil in a large soup pot (I use my cast iron Dutch oven!) over medium heat for about a minute or two; add onion, garlic, and ginger and cook until softened, about four or five minutes. Add the chicken, stir, and leave it alone without stirring for about two minutes so as to caramelize like CRAZY. Stir and leave another two minutes. Add seasoning, stir and let cook one more minute. Pour the chicken broth over the chicken and add the yams. Stir and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low, cover (leaving a slight crack for air) and cook for thirty minutes. Add the tomatoes, collards, and peanut butter into the soup and stir. At this point, you should make SURE to get a spoonful of peanut butter into your mouth. You know you want to. Partially cover the pot again and continue cooking on low, stirring occasionally, for about another fifteen-to-twenty minutes. Have plenty of tasting spoons nearby for “quality control”, which in my kitchen, means it tastes so good I can’t stop tasting it!