MoFo Day 4! African Quinoa Peanut Soup

Things are a little down at IWEAtF HQ. One very big reason why I have so much time to cook these days is that I'm on medical leave from work. I'm experiencing some post-surgical complications and since my position is so incredibly physical (and a topic for another day), work won't let me come back until my restrictions are manageable. Manageable to them means zero. Yesterday was the two month-iversary of my surgery. After today, I'm pretty much completely broke until my short term disability check arrives. When that is? I have absolutely no idea.

My fridge has been looking pretty barren for the last few days, so I went grocery shopping this afternoon. I took a list of ingredients for 9 different meals (all soups, oddly) and stuck completely to that list aside from replenishing a few pantry staples. I love soup in the fall and winter, especially since I can spend one day cooking and have anywhere from 4-8 meals. So, I definitely have enough to get by for quite a while. It's a good thing I like soup.

If you can read my scribble, you can probably figure out what I'll be making soon.

So. Look for a bunch of soup recipes in the coming weeks. Aside from pantry-based baked goods, that's all that'll be around for a while. Thankfully, I love soup. A lot.

Enough sad stuff. Food!

Tonight, I made the African-Inspired Quinoa-Peanut Soup from Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Season by Nava Atlas. Despite my love of soup, I haven't really explored this book much. Since I had some zucchini already cut from the quiche I made the other day, I decided to make this recipe first.

I wasn't totally sold on this soup from the look of it. But once I tasted it, I found it to be warming and subtle and slightly sweet. The peanut butter gives it a nice richness and the quinoa adds an almost crunchiness. I used chunky peanut butter and was glad I did. The few bits of peanut I had really added to the soup. I'm all about texture.

Even though I'm in a money crunch I don't want to get too repetitive with my meals. I portioned out the soup into some old hummus containers. I'm going to freeze a couple so I can pull one out in the coming weeks. I'm bummed that I have to be so frugal, but I'm kind of excited to see if I can pull it off. Thankfully, most of the recipes I'll be using call for ingredients that will keep well in the fridge until I can get around to them.