West African Unpeanut Soup

This is one of my all time favorite soups, and my kids love it. It's rich, spicy and thick.

The basic recipe for peanut soup combines onions, root vegetables such as carrots and potatoes, with ground peanuts or peanut butter. Here I've replaced the peanut butter with sunflower butter, and added curry powder for some kick. The soup is topped with chopped green onions.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 inch fresh ginger, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 teaspoon curry powder, or to taste
2 or 3 sweet potatoes, chopped (about 3 cups)
1 can tomatoes (14.5 ounces) plus juice
5 cups stock or water
1 cup sunflower butter
chopped green onion (optional)

In soup pot, saute onion in oil until softened. Add ginger, garlic, carrots and celery, and saute 2 minutes. Add curry powder and stir until fragrant. Add potatoes, tomatoes plus juice, and 5 cups stock or water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Puree soup, return to pot, and add sunflower butter. Stir until sunflower butter is well incorporated. Serve with green onion or chopped cilantro on top.