Two recipes

Last Christmas, my dear mother-in-law gave us The Best of Cooking Light (see here or here). We've tried a few recipes from the collection, and I wanted to share two of my favorites.

The first is for a cashew cream sauce for pastas.
* 1/2 cup roasted cashews
* 1 1/4 cups water
* Cooking spray
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
* 1/4 tsp freshly grated black pepper
* 1/8 tsp salt

Directions:
Place cashews in a food processor and process until smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping sides of bowl once. With processor on, slowly pour water through food chute, process until smooth, scraping sides of bowl once. Place cashew cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally with a wisk. Reduce heat, and simmer one minute until cream is thick. Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add garlic, saute 30 seconds. Stir in cashew cream, cheese, pepper and salt; cook until thoroughly heated.
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And this was something we repeated tonight. It's been cold and wet here the last few days, and this was a warm way to end the day.

Vegetarian West African Soup
* 2/3 cup roasted peanuts
* 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
* 2 cups chopped onion
* 6 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled sweet potatoes
* 1 tablespoon ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
* 2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans vegetable broth
* 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

Directions:
Place peanuts in a food processor; process until smooth, scraping sides of bowl once. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion; saute 7 minutes or until lightly browned. Add peanut butter, potato, and remaining ingredients, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes or until potato is tender.