Carrot Ginger Soup

In the heat of July, a cold vegetable soup is just the thing! I was quite proud of myself for picking it, because it did not require heating up the kitchen with a hot oven. Alas, I was unable to do the Jello recipe planned after the soup (pantry missing an essential ingredient), so ended up heating up the kitchen by baking recipe #2 of the day, which you can read about in the blog: Maple Cottage Pudding. 

This soup apparently stands the test of a restaurant favorite, as the person submitting it says she and her husband used to own a natural foods market and cafe, and she created the recipe with natural foods in mind. 

I shreded carrots, potatoes, and onions, chopped candied ginger (okay, so I popped a few in my mouth for sweet, strong ginger delightfulness!). Put in some spices, allowed to simmer in vegetable broth till veggies were soft, then let cool. I don't own an immersion blender (yet) so I poured it all into my big blender, and made a nice thick soup. 

Now, my taste buds love peanut butter in many different kinds of combinations. I reasoned that since I like peanut butter sauce for my Pad Thai, why wouldn't it taste great in this soup? I'm afraid the peanut butter overwhelms the ginger. Now, that can be remedied. A little less pb, a little more ginger, right? Making a note in the margins of the recipe for future creations of this delightful hot-weather cold soup. As you can see, I tried to remedy it on the spot, with a bit of candied ginger laid in the center of the soup (I know, it's odd to see something suspended in soup, right? Thick it is! And that extra ginger did help to offset the power of the pb.)





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