Soups

Yellow Split Pea Soup

(from Dining With Friends)

Made with yellow split peas, which are milder than split green peas, this soup has a gentle base. Slightly curried, this version picks up a hint of South Asian style.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
3 carrots, diced
l cup washed, dried yellow split peas
l potato, chopped in bite-sized chunks.
6 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon thyme
Sea salt
Ground pepper

Preparation:  

Sauté onion, celery and carrots in olive oil for several minutes in soup pot. Add the dry split peas, vegetable broth, curry powder, bay leaf, thyme, potato, salt, and pepper. Simmer over medium-low heat for one hour, or longer until the peas are soft.

West African Peanut Soup

(from Dining With Friends)

Called “groundnut stew” in Africa, this dish has found popularity throughout North America. Groundnuts, or peanuts, are originally South American, and were grown by indigenous South American farmers. They were introduced to West Africa by the Portuguese in the 16th century.

Enslaved Africans popularized peanuts in North America and they also introduced peanut soup to colonial North America. Peanut soup is still served at George Washington’s Mount Vernon home and Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. Africans also gave the peanut one of its many nicknames: The (West African) Kikongo word for peanut is nguba, or, as they say in the southeastern United States, goober^[1].

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon peanut or canola oil
2 cups chopped onion
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 cup sliced carrot
2 cups cubed sweet potato (peeled)
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon cayenne (less if you prefer a milder taste)
4 cups vegetable stock (or water)
2 cups tomato juice
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup chopped scallions (mainly white parts)

Preparation:

Sauté the onion and celery in oil, stirring in the cayenne pepper and ginger. Add the carrots, sweet potato and vegetable broth, and bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat, and cook until the vegetables are tender.

Allow the soup to cool somewhat, and then purée it in batches; return all to the pot. Stir in the tomato juice and peanut butter; heat until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed and hot; stir in scallions and serve.

Footnotes