This soup was adapted from a little cafe I visited in Key West, Florida. I’m a pretty big Jimmy Buffett fan (sort of a Parrot Head), so I choose to believe that this is probably Jimmy’s favorite soup (he spends a lot of time in Key West). I’d like to share my Jimmy Buffett fantasy with you (G-rated!!): Jimmy walks into my kitchen and says, “Oh my gosh, Soupergirl, are you cooking that peanut butter and veggie soup?” I say, “Oh my gosh it’s you! Jimmy Buffett! We should be friends!” He replies, “Yes, that sounds like a great idea! You’re cool because you are making that soup. My favorite part about that soup is the tahini. I love the Mediterranean flavor it adds to the soup! It is so creamy, with all the bright vegetables pureed together with the freshly ground peanut butter and tahini. It’s so filling yet so healthy. You know what, Soupergirl? I’m going to write a song about it. Then, you can come on tour with me and serve it to my band and sing with me on stage. No, I don’t care that you are tone deaf. The flavors of this soup will drown out your slightly off-key singing.” So then we get on his plane and fly around the world singing and making soup. The end.

Loyal Soup Eaters of Washington, I dedicate this soup to you. As we take the fresh, sweet, local carrots and puree them with our homemade peanut butter, we think of you, fellow Snowmaggedon survivors. As we puree it up with a pinch of chili and freshly squeezed lime juice, we have you, fellow Washingtonians, in our minds. But most of all, we dedicate this peanut-buttery, sweet, slightly spicy, creamy, and deliciously smooth soup to you, Bob Ryan, Doug Hill, Sue Palka, and the other brave meteorologists. No matter what time we turned on our TV’s – 3:00 AM, 7:30 PM, noon – there you were. In front of your Doppler-5000 Weathertron-Atari-Nintendo-Radar-Systematic-Thingies – telling us how much snow was coming. Keeping us calm, yet prepared. Fearful, yet knowledgeable of the amount of milk, eggs, and bread we should buy. We don’t know when you bathe, sleep, or eat, and frankly, we don’t care. Just keep those forecasts coming. This soup’s for you.

Should there be more stimulus money released? Should more banks be bailed out? Oh, the perilous woes of fixing our economy. If only our congresspeople and senators would have this soup. Oh, the harmony that would arise!! Barney Frank would say, “If Soupergirl can bring together such exotic flavors and ingredients such as carrots, almonds, mint, ginger, cinnamon, all spice, cumin, and more in such a delicious and unique way, surely we can fix the economy.” John McCain would follow with, “I agree with Mr. Frank. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike – can we please pass a bill so we can eat more of this soup? I cannot get enough of it. I have never had anything like it, my friends. It is smooth, yet thick. Light enough to be an appetizer, but filling enough to be a light meal.” And then the markets would have massive gains and unemployment would fall to 2%. Everyone would be employed making soup to feed our elected officials. You know, come to think of it, it would be unpatriotic for you, and everyone else, not to order this soup. I’m just saying…