By the Gracious Vegan

There’s hardly a Thai-inspired dish I don’t love. I’d seen a number of recipes for Thai noodle soup online, but most of them contained coconut milk (high in saturated fat), oil, and sugar. I had to figure out how to eliminate those without sacrificing taste and texture. Here is the result—a mouth-watering peanut-infused soup with noodles. It’s creamy and savory, but with hints of lime and curry paste to jazz things up.
Makes 5 servings
Start soaking the cashews and dates for the cashew broth, if needed.
Water-sauté the vegetables (start with 1/4 cup water) for 8 to 10 minutes, until the sweet potato pieces are soft.
1.5 cups diced sweet potatoes (peeling optional)
1 red bell pepper, diced
Cashew broth. Create cashew broth for the soup by blending the following ingredients on high for 30 seconds or longer, until the cashews and dates are dissolved. (If you do not have a high speed blender, soak the cashews first for 2 hours, or pour boiling water over them and soak them for 20 minutes; drain.) Set the broth aside.
2.5 cups water
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup, well packed, date pieces (pitted) (pre-soak the dates if they are hard) (or 1/4 cup homemade date paste)
Back to the sweet potatoes and red peppers: add the following ingredients to pot, stir them in, and cook for another few minutes.
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon red curry paste (I like Maesri or Thai Kitchen brand)
3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
Increase heat to medium-high, add the following ingredients, stir, and cook, uncovered, for about 5 minutes, until the thickness is to your liking.
2 cups vegetable stock
The cashew broth
Juice from one lime (about 2 Tablespoons)
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese roasted sesame paste, if you have it
Add the following ingredients and cook for 3 minutes.
3 ounces whole grain thin noodles or spaghetti (you can use a package of ramen noodles without the flavor packet, but note that they contain refined flour)
1 teaspoon coconut extract
To serve, ladle soup into bowls, and divide the garnishes among the bowls.
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Timing: about 45 minutes
Nutrition: whole-food unprocessed; WFPBNO
Gluten-free if gluten-free noodles are used