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Donna Donnelly, lead cook at Collis Café (photo by Kirk Cassels)

Dartmouth Dining Service’s Collis Café sees 4000 card swipes and up to 540 breakfast sandwiches sold daily.

From the kitchen of Collis, lead cook Donna Donnelly dices, chops, bakes, and stirs up food for patrons every day.

One of the most popular dishes Donnelly prepares is African Peanut Soup. The soup blends spicy, tangy, and sweet flavors for a truly delectable meal.

The soup’s origins are etched with history, explains Collis manager Michael J. Ricker. “Peanuts were brought to Africa in the 1560’s by the Spanish and Portuguese from South America,” he says. “There is no specific region that takes credit for the soup, but many use the basic recipe many different ways such as with chicken, as a sauce, as a soup, and as a meal. The main draw seems to be it that is a good source of protein.”

View the video to find out more about Donna and to see how she makes African Peanut Soup.

African Peanut Soup (Serves eight)

12 cups vegetable stock ¼ teaspoon black pepper ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

½ cup uncooked brown rice ⅔ cup smooth peanut butter

2 medium onions chopped 2 large green or red peppers chopped/diced 4 cloves of garlic minced 2 tablespoons of oil

Simmer first 4 ingredients for 30 minutes.

After 15 minutes, add brown rice. After 30 minutes total, stir in peanut butter until soup is smooth. Continue to heat gently; add salt and pepper to taste.

As soup mixture simmers, sauté onions, peppers and garlic in oil until they begin to brown.

Add onions, peppers, and garlic to soup, and serve.

Tiffany Pollack