In article >, Gus > wrote:
>"Cindy Hamilton" > wrote in message
. ..
>
>> Actually, garlic does go with peanut butter. Two preps come to mind.
>>
>> My recipe for cold sesame noodles has peanut butter in it (and plenty
>> of garlic)--an American substitution for sesame paste that I've
>> come to enjoy.
>
>I am not yet up to novice... Thai food has quite a bit of garlic
>doesn't it? And peanut sauces. So garlic with peanut sauce makes
>sense. I love pad Thai but never attempted to make it... I was
>thinking a peanut butter sandwich with garlic. It crossed my mind
>before posting maybe that would be good, but decided it sounded odd. I
>will have to try it sometime now.

I think peanut butter and garlic need a few more things to bring
them together happily. Much as I love Asian foods that combine
peanuts and garlic, I think I'll stick with strawberry jam on my
peanut butter sandwich.

Of course, that's just me. I've found that people enjoy lots of
combinations that sound horrible to me. You only have to please
yourself.

I remember you asking a while back about soup. I make an easy
vegetable soup this way:

Chop onion and garlic and fry in a little fat. Butter,
olive oil, bacon grease, whatever. It's all good. Maybe a
small onion or half a large one, and one or two cloves of garlic,
depending on thir size. Start the onions first; when they're
nearly translucent, add the garlic. Garlic cooks a lot faster
than onions, and tastes nasty when burned.

Add one 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes, including the juice.

Add one 32-ounce box of chicken broth, or beef broth, or
vegetable broth. I like Swanson's Natural Goodness, but
opinions vary.

You could add a pinch of herbs here. Oregano or thyme
might be nice. If you're low-sodium, you might have
Mrs Dash on hand.

Add half a bag of frozen mixed vegetables.
(I think my bag is 12 or 16 ounces, and has corn, peas, green
beans, carrots, lima beans. The brand is Freshlike, but you
can get whatever you like).

Add some defrosted frozen broccoli or cauliflower, chopped into
bite-size pieces. (I'd like to use cabbage, but an entire head
is a bit much to use up, since my husband doesn't like vegetables.)

You can also add a can of plain, cooked beans. I like Great Northern
or Navy beans, but any will do.

This is the point where I add salt and pepper. It always tastes
bland to me if the salt isn't cooked into the vegetables.

Simmer until the vegetables are as cooked as much as you like them.
I don't like mushy vegetables, so I don't cook them all that long.
I often add the cauliflower when the other veggies are done, and just
let it kind of heat through in the residual heat of the rest of the soup.

Cindy Hamilton
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