I was sick for a good solid week--the flu this year is being caused by very persistent little bugs. I stayed home and watched stupid TV and the first season of Big Love on DVD and read books. Oh, I re-read The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon. What a wonderful book that is.

Maybe this would be a good time to be in a plural marriage like on Big Love: the other wives could have brought me hot tea and meals. Fortunately, instead I had lots of soup in the freezer. I love to make soup, and I always put 1 or 2-serving size containers of it in the freezer for lunches or times like these. Here's a soup I've made several times lately and had a good supply of. It's called Senegalese peanut soup and caught my attention because my daughter is spending her semester abroad in Senegal. She says she hasn't had anything quite like this though. Anyway, it freezes really well, and it's thick and nourishing, though a little too spicy if you're the stomach kind of sick. And of course it wouldn't be a good idea if you have peanut allergies. . . .

1 pound dry roasted peanuts
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 onion, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
2 leeks, diced
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt (add later--the peanuts might be kind of salty)
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
6 cups water
1/2 cup diced green onions
1/2 cup cream
1 minced clove garlic
Chop about 1/4 cup nuts with a knive. Puree the rest coarsley in food processor; set aside.
In large soup pot, heat oil. Add onion, celery and leeks. Saute until tender. Add sugar, curry, cumin, cayenne and salt. Stir to coat. Add tomatoes, water and green onions, half-and-half, and garlic . Stir in ground peanuts. Heat through. Garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro and the chopped peanuts. Makes 10 to 12 servings.
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