Tag Archives: carrot

Silky Ginger PB Soup

6 Jan

A friend of mine made this tasty soup for an appetizer when we went to her house for dinner a couple months ago. I’ve been meaning to try it myself since then, and I finally got around to it. I’ll definitely be adding this to my regular recipe file.

If you use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, this soup is totally vegan. It’s amazing how creamy and silky it is without any dairy. It makes for a smooth, rich, and filling lunch or dinner. The original called for just zucchini, but I decided to toss some carrots in there too. It came out a beautiful yellow color.

Silky Ginger Peanut Butter Soup

Overall, the flavors are strongly ginger-y and peanut butter-y, which is why I decided to go with that in the name. The original recipe didn’t use peanut butter at all, so I imagine the flavor profile changed quite dramatically. But the peanut butter is really tasty and adds more protein, which is especially helpful if you go with the veggie broth. The PB-ginger combo reminds me of Malay or Thai food. Delicious!

Try this out, and serve a big bowl as a main meal or a small cup as an appetizer for an Asian main course.

Silky Ginger Peanut Butter Soup

Silky Ginger PB Soup adapted from The Clothes Make the Girl

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 ounce fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 medium zucchini, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup peanut butter

Heat oil in a large soup pot on medium heat, 2 minutes. Add onions and garlic. Stir often and cook until the onions and garlic are soft and golden, but not browned, about 7 minutes. Add ginger, salt, and black pepper; stir to combine.

Add the zucchini and carrots into the pot. Stir well, then cook ’til beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to simmer. Cook 45 -60 minutes until all the veggies are very soft.

Stir in the peanut butter. Puree with an immersion blender or by blending in batches in a blender or food processor. Serve hot.

Linking Up With:

Funday Monday from Still Being Molly
Block Party from Sumo’s Sweet Stuff
Made by you Monday from Skip to my Lou
Inspiration Monday from Twelve O Eight
Time to Sparkle from Love Grows Wild
Wonderfully Creative Wednesday from All She Cooks
Create It Thursday from Lamberts Lately
Full Plate Thursday from Miz Helen’s Country Cottage
All Things Pretty from Sparkles and a Stove

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Herb-Crusted Pork Roast Dinner

3 Jan

I don’t often post dinner meals, frankly because I bake way more often than I actually cook dinner. Sad, I know. However, here’s a phenomenal one-dish meal that is super easy. Plus, this is technically baking, too. My brother makes this for us at family meals, and I stole the recipe from him to re-create a smaller version at home. But if you feel the need to impress a dinner party, feel free to use a huge cut of pork tenderloin, slice it up fancy, and wow the pants off your guests.

In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary, 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme, and 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs. Mix it all together, and add olive oil until it makes a paste-like consistency. Rub the mixture all over your pork roast and then place it in a shallow pan. (For just the BF and me, I use about a 1/2 pound cut of a pork tenderloin. Though I’m sure he would appreciate it if I made more than that.)

Pork in the Pan

Fill the rest of the pan with sliced carrots and diced potatoes. Crack open a bottle of white wine, and pour it right into the pan until it covers the bottom. (I prefer to cut my vegetables smaller and pour enough wine to cover them so they’re more tender.)

Cover with foil and bake at 350 F. My 1/2 pound cut usually bakes for 30-35 minutes. If you use a different size cut, check the packaging – it will often tell you how long to cook per pound. At any rate, the internal temperature of your meat should come to 160 F, and when you cut into it, there should be no pink at all, only white meat (like chicken).

Pork Dinner

How Sue Sees It:
– I’m lazy enough when I serve this at home for the two of us that I just cut it in half and plop it right on our plates. But if you make a larger roast for a dinner party, this looks amazing sliced up and served on a platter. Very impressive!
– If you don’t have any wine (or if you’re not old enough to buy any), water works just fine. I just prefer wine because even if it’s cheap wine, it adds a little more flavor. Plus a glass is nice while I’m waiting for the oven timer to ding.
– Real chefs would probably tell you to not ever substitute dried herbs for a dish like this that features them so prominently. But I won’t lie — I’ve done it. If you substitute dried for fresh herbs, cut back to one-third or one-half the amount. Also, at least make sure that your dried herbs are still good — check the expiration date, and only save dried herbs for about 6 months after you’ve opened them (even if the expiration date hasn’t come yet). They start losing their flavor after that.

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