West African Peanut Stew

This recipe needs some tweaking, but I'm posting it so I will remember to do so (or maybe someone else will, and will tell me how to make it better?  hint hint!).  It has the potential to be super tasty.  Folks on allrecipes loved it, so maybe I am just an outlier and/or didn't follow the recipe well enough? 

The recipe linked above is as follows:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium onions, very finely diced
• 2 large bell peppers, (any color) finely chopped
• 6 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (28 ounce) can chopped tomatoes with juice
• 8 cups vegetable broth
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup uncooked rice
• 1 (18 ounce) jar creamy peanut butter  [I used chunky and didn't add roasted peanuts]
• chopped roasted peanuts (optional)

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Cook onion, bell pepper, and garlic until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes with their juice, vegetable broth, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
2. Add rice to soup and stir. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 25 minutes, or until rice is tender.
3. When rice is cooked, whisk in peanut butter and return to a simmer, and serve. Garnish with chopped roasted peanuts, if desired.

I made the following additions, but they weren't enough to counterbalance the overwhelming peanut butter flavor:

- Added finely chopped carrots to Step One
- Added a splash of soy sauce
- Added 1/2 a can tomato paste
- Used more garlic and a LOT more red pepper flakes.

I think for next time, I will try less peanut butter (probably the most important modification), more rice, perhaps even more tomato paste/tomatoes and soy sauce and red pepper flakes... what else would y'all suggest?  What could this be served with other than bread?

**Update:  See the comments for a much-better-sounding version via Kate!***