Peanut Chili

Rob, about to tuck into some delicious peanut chili

I mentioned before that we harvested our sweet potatoes on Sunday, but I forgot to add that, aside from the rotten ones, they were really nice—big and bulging and fat. We used two that very night to make a batch of peanut chili spiced up with some of our lovely Long Slim cayenne peppers.

The chili was really good (it also contained some of our homegrown garlic and onions), and it was fun working with the brand-new sweet potatoes (they were a gorgeous coral pink). We ate out on the screen porch under the ceiling fan, the cats lying about like little fur rugs; they get so lazy in the heat. Except for June Baxter, of course; she’s always busy. You can see her in the picture, behind Rob. I kept getting “mad” at her because she was cleaning herself in all my shots.

Anyway, here’s the recipe for the chili:

Peanut Chili

Ingredients:

1 Tbls peanut oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
7 fresh cayenne peppers, minced
28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
5 cups water
2 tsps salt
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
¾ cup chunky peanut butter
1 Tbls curry powder
¼ cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped
Limes

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and cayenne peppers. Cook until softened, about five minutes.

Add the tomatoes, water, sweet potatoes, and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cook uncovered until the potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.

Stir in the peanut butter and curry powder. Mix well and allow to heat through.

Use an immersion blender to puree the soup, but don’t blend too long or too thoroughly–leave some chunks. Sprinkle the chili with chopped peanuts and squeeze some lime juice over the top to serve.