Peanut Squash Soup

 

My oldest son says that the name “Squash” says it all, in regards to that vitamin-A-packed vegetable. He wouldn't touch it, normally, but since he was out in his truck listening to Vermont Public Radio while I blended this PEANUT SQUASH SOUP, he will never know what he happily ingested. 

As the chef on Fawlty Towers said, “What the eye doesn't see, the cook gets away with.” Obviously, take people's allergies and rational beliefs into account.

 

Ingredients

1 — buttercup or butternut squash or 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 — small carrots, chopped

1 — large onion, chopped

5 — garlic cloves, chopped

2 tblsp. — olive oil

2 tblsp. — ginger root, peeled and minced

1/2 tsp — red pepper flakes or equivalent

2 cups — water

3 — Roma tomatoes, chopped or 1/2 cup of tomato sauce

A few — raisins, optional

1/4 tsp each — salt and black pepper 

1/2 cup — peanut butter

1 cup — water, as needed to assist blender

Toppings — chopped chives, green onions, or fresh parsley

Method

Have on hand one buttercup squash or two sweet potatoes. Peel them, and take out the seeds if it is a squash. Cube it.

 

Saute one large chopped onion and eventually add five chopped garlic cloves in two tablespoons of olive oil.
 

Add the cubed squash or sweet potato, and three small chopped carrots.

 

Add two tablespoons of peeled fresh ginger. I was excited to dig some up from the hand of ginger I have been growing in a pot of dirt for a while, and it was really easy to slice up.

 

Add a half teaspoon of cayenne, or, as in my case, half of a dried cayenne pepper.

Add two cups of water.

Add three Roma tomatoes or half a cup of tomato sauce, a few raisins, if you'd like, and about a quarter teaspoon of salt and black pepper.

 

Cook this until the squash or sweet potatoes are soft, for approximately fifteen to twenty minutes.

 

Spoon half a cup of peanut butter into a food processor or blender.

 

Add the cooked vegetables in two different batches, along with a half a cup of water each time. After blending, return it all to a clean pot to continue to simmer until serving.

 

Top with chopped green onions or chives and fresh parsley, and serve with some interesting bread.