Curried Peanut Soup
Chef Karen Shields

For those of you who have to eat peanut butter every day, as I do, this soup is a nice alternative to spreading it on, well, whatever it is you spread it on. Furthermore, my cooking style is somewhat improvisational. But, this is usually how it goes:

1 cup chopped onion
2 big celery stalks chopped
2 big carrots, chopped

Sauté the above in a 4-5 quart pot with 2-3 T olive oil for about ten minutes. The onion should be soft.

Meanwhile... make up some broth, about 8 cups (or 2 quarts) I use water and dissolve a tablespoon of this funky stuff called Padrovka/Vegeta into it. It is a vegetable based bouillon, you can use chicken bouillon, a couple cubes I guess.

When those veggies are sautéed, add a tablespoon or two of Patak's Hot Curry Paste. You can find this in Indian grocery stores. It's very hot, keep that in mind when cooking for young uns. Stir that stuff in real good. Let it cook for a minute or two

Add:
1/2 Cup of jasmine rice
1/2 Cup of dried red lentils (which are actually orange in color)

Stir this stuff around for a minute or so. Add the stock. Let this simmer for say, 40 minutes on a low flame. MMM, doesn't that smell nice?

Add:
3/4-1 cup of chunky peanut butter (I prefer reduced fat)
2 T Worcestershire sauce (weird, huh?)
A good long squirt from a ketchup bottle or about 2-3 T

Simmer for about five minutes more. Garnish with chopped peanuts, cilantro and if you can stand the heat, red pepper flakes. Yum.

The Kitchen