African Peanut Soup with Quinoa

Holy cow do I really have 21 followers?!

That's super awesome guys, and some of you aren't even my close friends and family, so I know this wee speck in the vast infinity of the blogosphere is gettin' out there in some little way :)

(not to say I don't LOVE that my friends and family follow V.V.! <3)

I figured out that you can actually check your blog 'stats' on blogger and it seems that my spicy peanut noodle soup blog gets hit up hella often.  For those who can't get enough of peanut soup deliciousness, here is my recipe for an African inspired version, full of yummy and HEALTHY quinoa, that I hope you love!

That's our couch monkey in the picture with the soup.  Bee found him abandoned in our storage closet and he now lives on the arm of her big, pink sofa.

African Peanut Soup with Quinoa

Ingredients:

-2 tbsp veg oil

-1 large red onion, peeled and diced

-2 large carrots, peeled and diced

-1 large yam, peeled and diced

-6 to 8 cloves garlic, peeled and...roughly chopped ;)

-2 tsp (or more) chili flakes

-6 cups veggie stock or water

-1/4 cup soy sauce

-1 cup quinoa

-1 can coconut milk

-1/2 cup natural chunky peanut butter

-1/2 cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish (or flat-leaf parsley if you hate cilantro)

-S&P

-chopped peanuts and sriracha sauce for garnish

Heat the veg oil in your favorite soup pot over medium heat.  Saute the onion, carrot, yam and garlic and chili flakes for five minutes uncovered then place the lid on the pot and cook for a further 10 - 15 min or until the veggies are tender.  

Add the veggie stock or water and soy sauce and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer the soup for about 15 minutes or until the sweet potatoes and carrots are easily smushed by a fork.  

Using an immersion blender (hand blender) puree the soup until very smooth.  If you do not have an immersion blender, transfer SMALL amounts of the soup to a blender at a time and puree.  BE CAREFUL!  Hot soup will expand once you turn that blender on and if it's too full, it could explode and give you a mighty burn.

Once the soup is pureed, add the quinoa and bring the soup back to a boil over medium-high.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the quinoa is fully cooked (about 12 min).  Then stir in the coconut milk, peanut butter and cilantro.  Season the soup with S&P.

Garnish with a sprinkle of cilantro and chopped peanuts (and a swirl of sriracha for those who like it HAWT!)

Hope you enjoy this as much as my other peanut soup recipe :)

XOXO
V.V.

The Quest for the Perfect Spicy Peanut Noodle Soup Part I

Hey hey HEY!


There is a Chinese restaurant here in my Osborne Village 'hood called the Spicy Noodle House.  My sister 'Boomer', who refers to the owners of the resto as Mr. and Mrs. Noodle, brings home a brown paper bag from said noodle house once every week or so that contains a huge vat of the most incredible spicy peanut noodle soup.  The Boom custom orders it by asking for the vegetable tofu noodle soup with the spicy peanut soup base.  I don't know if it's even vegan, but I DO know that it's incredibly good and I have been obsessed with perfecting the recipe at home.  This is the recipe I have come up with and it's delish!  It's great for utilizing pantry staples (peanut butter, udon noodles, chili flakes, veggie stock) and veggies you are likely to have around (carrots, onions, and whatever other veg you might throw into a stir fry).  Besides, there's nothin' like a little spice to keep ya warm on a chilly November day ;)


KITCHEN TIP ALERT!:  There is nothing like fresh ginger.  Save the ground stuff for baking and spice rubs.  Store fresh ginger root in your freezer.  It keeps for a looooooong time and it's super easy to grate when it's frozen!  Just peel it, put it into a little freezer bag and use it as you need it.  I also like to freeze slices of peeled ginger to make ginger tea (fresh ginger slices steeped in boiling water with honey) for any time I feel under the weather (great for tummy troubles, coughs, colds and flu!) 

Spicy Peanut Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1 tbsp grapeseed oil

1 tsp sesame oil

1 large onion, diced

8 cloves garlic, sliced

3 tbsp fresh grated ginger
2 tsp chili flakes (or more if ya need it HOTTA)

2 carrots, cut in half lengthwise then sliced into half-moon shapes

2 cups sliced mushrooms, a mix of crimini and shitake

2 cups chopped bok choy or other Asian cabbage

8 cups veg stock or water

6 tbsp tamari soy sauce

1 cup natural peanut butter (I like chunky!)

2 pkgs udon noodles
1 pkg medium tofu, cubed
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained and rinsed

S&P

In your favorite soup pot (every soup lover has one), heat the oils on medium heat.  Saute the onion, garlic, ginger, chili flakes and carrot until tender.  Add the mushrooms and bok choy and saute just until soft.  Add the stock or water and tamari.  Bring the soup to a boil and then drop the heat to a simmer.

Stir in the peanut butter until totally blended into the broth and then add the udon noodles, tofu and water chestnuts.  Simmer the soup for fifteen - twenty minutes and season with S&P.  All you crazy spice freaks can add some sriracha hawt sauce right about now. 

The quest for the perfect replica continues...

Spicy Kisses,

V.V.