Week 50: African Groundnut Stew

The Recipe
1 tbsp oil
1 small onion, diced
1 garlic cloves, diced
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes
1/2 cup rice
4 cups broth (chicken, veggie or beef)
2 heaped tbsp peanut butter
1 (15-oz) can chickpeas (original recipe called for half of that, but I think it could use more)
1.5 cups salsa (that's about 1.5 230gr jars here)
1/2 zucchini, cut into cubes
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and sweet potatoes and sauté 10 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender. Add the rice and vegetable broth to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, 20 to 30 minutes, until the rice is tender. Add the peanut butter, chickpeas, salsa, zucchini, cumin, thyme, and salt and pepper; cook over low heat for another 10 minutes or until the zucchini is soft.

The Verdict
Yesterday was freezing cold, snow everywhere and my bike ride home from work took almost an hour. I was frozen to the bone and needed something to heat me up from the inside out.

This fit the bill perfectly. It was absolutely delicious, and as I had used hot salsa, it had a nice 'bite' to give that inner heat. For once I made the recipe exactly 'as is', which meant I only used half the can of chickpeas, and that was definitely too little, so I think I'll use the entire can next time. Also, I think it would work just as well with ordinary potatoes if you can't find the sweet ones.

Edit, Jan 4th, 2016: Tried making this yesterday but was too lazy to go shopping, so instead of the sweet potato I used 4 carrots, and instead of the zucchini I used a bell pepper. YUM! Almost better than the original. So satisfying and warming on a cold day.