Peanut Ginger Soup

I've been know to get a little crazy overly exuberant when produce is involved. Like the time week before last when I bought 20 lbs. of farm fresh produce for me and Yoni to eat. Yeah.... Like that time. And if necessity is the mother of invention, over purchasing of produce is it's father... or other mother (since I am usually doing the shopping).

Among the heirloom tomatoes, the muscadine, the mountain apples and squash was one, giant bag of kale. And yesterday, we realized it HAD to be used or disposed of before it went the way of compost. I  vaguely remembered a Marc Bittmann article about how exceptional peanut soup was, so I decided I would try my own bittmanesque techniques at recipe making.

Ingredients:

1 large onion, the color doesn't matter much, but purple is always pretty
1 large sweet potato carrots work if you don't have sweet potato on hand. So would acorn or butternut squash.  All of which I purchased at this farmer's market. But it was so cheap! (unlike the hipster ones in the city)
As much kale as you need to get rid of. You can also use another green, but the hardier ones hold up well in the broth.
1 14 ounce can tomatoes or 2 large fresh ones (optional)
1 cup cooked quinoa, rice or another grain (optional)
2 tofu stakes. Feel free to use another protein -- temphe or chicken would probably be the best other options
1/2 cup seed or nut butter I used a mix of sunflower, flax seed and peanut butters, unsalted and unsweetened are preferable
4 cups veggie stock you can substitute one cup broth for coconut milk, which would be absolutely delicious.
1 thumb sized knob of ginger, grated
Water, salt and pepper and olive (or other) oil

So I say to use onions, sweet potato and kale, but any hearty veggies would do -- think potatoes, root veggies, squash, tomatoes, hearty greens like collards, kale, mustard greens, even eggplant -- pretty much any veggie that cooks well. Chop the onions and let oil heat in a large stock pot or cast iron pot on medium high. Sweat onions. As they are sweating, cut up your sweet potato (or carrots or squash) and toss it in. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Add a pinch of salt.  Let veggies saute. After a few minutes, add torn kale into the sauted mix, stirring frequently. If you want tomatoes, now if the time to add them to the mix. stir and once a little bit of the moisture has come out, add the peanut butter. Stir in until smooth and finally, add the rest of the broth, the ginger, cooked grain and the tofu, cut into bite sized pieces. Let simmer until potatoes are tender and tofu is heated through.