West African Peanut Soup with Chicken

I've been craving this dish since we saw it at a stand at the Eastern Market in Detroit, and found this version on Allrecipes.com. Delicious, flavorful, and very filling, especially with a good crusty bread. I added chicken to the original recipe which gives it a bit more dimension. I also minced the onion, peppers and garlic in a food processor because I don't like a lot of crunchy texture, but you may want to just finely chop with a knife if you want more texture.

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 onion, finely chopped (recipe called for 2 originally, but I downsized)
* 2 large bell peppers (any color) finely chopped (I used red)
* 6 large cloves garlic, minced (I upped to 8 cloves)
* 1 (28 ounce) can chopped tomatoes with juice
* 8 cups vegetable broth (I used a mix of chicken broth and vegetable, which is what I had on hand)
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 1/2 cup uncooked rice
* 1 (18 ounce) jar creamy peanut butter
* 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
* Chopped roasted peanuts (optional)
* Sea salt

Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Mince together onion, bell pepper and garlic until very fine, and then cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes with their juice, vegetable broth, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Add rice to soup and stir. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 25 minutes, or until rice is tender. After about 15-20 minutes of simmering, cook the chicken in a separate skillet - saute in olive oil for about five minutes until cooked through. When rice is cooked, whisk in peanut butter and cooked chicken and return to a simmer for several minutes. Garnish with chopped roasted peanuts, if desired, and sea salt to taste.