Hearty Bean and Peanut Soup

Somehow, this soup just ticked all the boxes, as they say.  It isn't the prettiest thing you'll ever see in a bowl, but oh, the flavors!  Give it a try.

1 can garbanzo beans

¾c dry baby lima beans

½ purple cipollini onion

1 lg. purple shallot

2 med. carrots

1-1½c chopped celery

1t green curry seasoning

1t pumpkin pie spice

1t cumin

ground red and black pepper

2 cubes vegetable bouillon

½c crunchy peanut butter

1 can coconut milk

I was planning to use two cans of garbanzos, but only had one.  I did have quite a supply of dried beans, and debated between black-eyed peas and limas.  I brought the lima beans to a simmer in 3-4 cups of cold water, for 10 minutes, then drained, rinsed, changed the water and repeated.  Chop all the vegetables then saute' in 1-2T coconut oil.  Add the seasonings, bouillon, 2-4 cups of water.  Bring to a simmer, stir in the coconut milk and peanut butter.  When the peanut butter is melted and the soup once again simmers, it's ready!

Check flavors and make any necessary changes.  If you'd like, you could hit this with your immersion blender now to smooth it out.  Mmmm, this is an interesting one! . . .Lin

Peanut-Coconut Curried Vegetables

1 lg. sweet potato

3 med. carrots

4 med. red-skinned potatoes

1 lg. onion - chopped

1c golden raisins

1c crunchy peanut butter

1 14oz. can coconut milk

3-5t curry powder

salt and pepper

Scrub, but don't peel the potatoes or carrots.  The extra fiber is a good thing.  Cut them into bite-size chunks.  Steam the first group of ingredients until the sweet potatoes are done about half way and the raisins are plumped.  Meanwhile, combine the curry sauce ingredients in a 3-5qt. pot over low heat.  Stir together until well blended.  Drain the vegetables and put them in the pot with the sauce, gently stirring with a big wooden spoon to be sure everything is well coated.

Pour into a 2-3qt. baking dish and bake at 350° for about 20-30 minutes, until everything is bubbly, and the potatoes are cooked the way you like.  Serve this as a vegan-vegetarian main dish or as a side to steamed chicken breasts. . .Lin

Thai Shredded Vegetable Pasta

1 med. zucchini

2 med. carrots

2T butter

6 cloves garlic - minced

a big handful of spinach

1/3c sunflower seeds

3T crunchy peanut butter

a little soy sauce

a big handful of cooked spaghetti

This was fun.  I had leftover spaghetti that had been rinsed, drained and stored in a plastic bag.  I decided to shred up some vegetables, combine everything and keep it simple tonight.  It was so good!

Into a big non-stick pan, shred the zucchini and carrots.  Simmer in the butter, on low heat, covered, for about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and finely sliced spinach.  Cook until the spinach wilts.  Add all remaining ingredients, stir a little to melt the peanut butter and coat the vegetables and spaghetti. . .Lin