peanut, peanut butter (and jelly!)

I got this recipe from Awa Goita, a Malian woman who I was lucky enough to meet when she came to Miami.  Awa did a little cooking class in order to raise money for her plane ticket to the states, and when explaining how to make this peanut butter stew, kept saying "Je mis un quantité de ____, et un quantité de ____" (I put in some of ______ and some of ____), meaning the recipe is very loose and you can really put what you want in terms of which and how much of the veggies.  When I made it, I made a half recipe (which would feed about 6 people) and ended up not halving the tomato paste and chicken bouillon, for more flavor.  I also substituted zucchini for eggplant (which I would not reccommend).  I think it would also be good with broccoli or cauliflower, asparagus, and/or brussel sprouts.  The picture below shows it just after I've added in some cabbage and zucchini.

African (Mali) Peanut Butter Sauce & Rice

Ingredients

~6 cups of water ~28 ounces of peanut butter (or less to taste) 6 ounces of tomato paste 1 large onion, grated 1 chicken bouillon cube 1 teaspoon of salt Pepper to taste 6 mashed garlic cloves 1 tablespoon of “epice” if available (see below for recipe), or 1 tbsp of “Herbes de Provence”** Recommended but optional: 1-2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken cut into chunks

Vegetables*: ¾ of a whole cabbage, cut in large pieces 2 chopped carrots 1 medium eggplant, chopped in large pieces 2 chopped sweet potatoes 4 cups chopped kale or similar green *Substitute other vegetables as you wish (okra, squash, cauliflower, etc…) 3 scotch bonnet hot peppers (optional)

Directions:  Put water in large pot, add p-nut butter, tomato paste, chicken chunks.  Bring to boil.  Add all ingredients.  Cover and simmer for one hour.  Serve over rice.  Scotch bonnet peppers are very hot/spicy, it is best not to break them open in the sauce, unless you like it hot/spicy. 

**Herbes de Provence is a blend of thyme, bay leaves, rosemary, cloves, lavender, tarragon, sage, marjoram, basil, fennel seed and other spices that can be found in most spice sections.