May 17, 2019-- Vegan Carrot Peanut Soup in Letters to my Friend

Dear Friend,

Hey you, I still miss you. But I kind of feel bad for not writing anything down.

Btw, don’t make this recipe! I know it sounds so delicious, but it turned out yucky for me. I even tripled the recipe… to match the amount of tomatoes I got left. But wait, maybe I’m just not into vegan food?

Anyway, now onto recording my thoughts about you. Obviously I’m in a better mood today, talking about carrot peanut soup and all, but I have to record these writings I did about you.

I guess you don’t want me to miss you either, but how can I help it?

I’m just so sad.

Do I need you? Yes and no. No because I’m doing well in my life. Yes because I still want to learn everything from you.

I struggle so much whether I should go on missing you or not. You would want me to forget about you and move on with my life when I’m ready and when I don’t need you anymore. You’re just that kind of a selfless person. But how could I?

It just seems like a serious ingratitude to cast the memories of you aside like that. But I have no interaction with you outside of being an anonymous online person needing help from you. I tried to overstep the boundaries many times and try to get to know you as a person, picking up from the little “clues” in your messages. You never seemed to enjoy that. You said want that you’d rather keep your privacy.

So yeah I think you wanted me to move on. If I’m doing well in life, you’ve done your job and now you’re back to your life. You sought no recognition or reward. At the same time, it just doesn’t seem right to me. I feel like I owe everything I have achieved to you. How could I forget?

You could probably say, well, just go on living my life while cherishing memories of you! How hard is that? Hard. Have you ever tried to remember someone you don’t even know? I figure, it’s like taking a test and trying to remember something you didn’t even understand. It’s hopeless.

Love,
Your fangirl.

https://www.veganricha.com/2014/12/vegan-carrot-peanut-soup-gluten-free.html
Carrot Peanut Soup
Allergen Information: Free of Dairy, egg, corn, gluten, soy. Use almond butter for variation.

Ingredients:
1 tsp oil
1/2 cup chopped red or white onion
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 inch ginger minced
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/3 to 1/2 cup raw peanuts or peanut butter or almond butter
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water or veggie broth
1/4 tsp or more salt
1 tsp or more sriracha or hot sauce to taste
1 to 2 Tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp sesame oil

Variations:
Add a tsp of apple cider vinegar or 1/2 tsp lime zest for a tangier flavor.
Add a tsp of soy sauce.

Method:
Heat oil in a skillet, add onions, garlic and ginger. Cook until translucent. 5 minutes.
Add peanuts and cook for 2 minutes or until lightly golden. (If using peanut butter or other nut butter, add with the tomatoes in the next step). Add carrots and cook for a minute.
Add tomatoes and cook for 4 minutes.
Add coconut milk, water, salt, sriracha, maple, sesame oil. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.
Cool slightly and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust spice, sweet and salt if needed. Reheat if needed.
Garnish with peanuts, scallion, sriracha and serve hot.