African Peanut Chicken Stew

1. Chop the chicken into smallish cubes and mix it with the peanut oil (4 Tablespoons), sesame oil, ginger, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, white pepper, chili powder, thyme, and flour. Let it marinate for at least 15 minutes. Don’t worry about the seemingly large amount of oil–that will also serve to help cook a ton of veggies.

2. Mince the garlic, then roughly chop up the onion, red pepper, squash, and tomatoes (keeping the tomatoes separate).

3. Heat 1 Tablespoon of peanut oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. When hot, add the chicken. Cook for 2 minutes, until the chicken starts to look less raw. Add the onion and garlic, and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes.

4. Add the bell pepper and squash. Cook for another 5 minutes.

5. Add the tomatoes, chicken broth, bouillon and peanut butter. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer gently for 25 minutes, uncovered.

6. If the stew isn’t thick enough at this point, mix in the cornstarch/water slurry to help it along. At this point, taste and re-season. I added an additional couple teaspoons of brown sugar and a hefty dose of salt and pepper. Don’t underseason! The right amount of salt really brings this dish to life.

7. Serve over rice and garnish with some blanched almonds and cilantro.