I have always wondered what I could contribute to things like National Donut Day or National Cupcake Day. When you’re not really a ‘sweets’ person, it’s challenging to come up with great ideas - especially when things that are my jam - like National Pizza Day - get taken over by the ‘sweets people’ making pizza cookies and pizza cupcakes! It totally steals the thunder of the ‘savory’ girls.

Then my friend Dawn asked me to participate in a National Donut Day hop and I got so excited! Savory girls don’t get invited into hops like this. I jumped at the chance to participate and racked my brain to come up with something that was still a weeknight dinner - but that included donuts.

TA DA!

Find the rest of the donut girls here and follow their projects!

Bakers Party Shop

Celebration Stylist

Fern & Maple

Kingston Crafts

Make Life Lovely

Revel & Glitter

I took my favorite Shrimp Curry Soup and added a Coconut Curry Donut to dunk in it. These are so good. You really do need the soup with them - they’re a set - and they are amazing together. Especially with the sprinkle of coconut on top.

SHRIMP CURRY SOUP

serves 4

STEP 1

Cook red onion, garlic, bell pepper, and lemongrass in a stock pan with 2 tbs olive oil.

STEP 2

Add curry paste and stir to coat vegetables.  Pour in stock and coconut milk.

STEP 3

Bring to a boil and add shrimp.  Cook until shrimp is pink – about 3 mins.  

STEP 4

Immediately scoop out and serve hot with basil, cilantro, and bean sprouts on top. 

6 cups seafood stock

1 stock lemongrass

1 can coconut milk

2 tbs green curry paste

1 red onion, sliced

2 cl garlic, chopped

1 green bell pepper, sliced

2 tbs olive oil

¼ cup fresh Basil, chopped

¼ cup fresh Cilantro, chopped

1 cup Bean Sprouts

12 ounces raw, deveined shrimp

The donuts are so great. I ate multiple as I made them and I made multiple batches of them. But then I took them to the baseball game to get rid of the rest of them and the kids thought I’d lost my mind. Turns out Curry Donuts are a hard sell without the soup.

COCONUT CURRY DONUTS

makes 12

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a stand mixer, combine sugar, eggs, oil, and red curry paste.  

STEP 2

In a separate bowl, combine curry powder, baking powder, salt, and flour.  

STEP 3

Combine together the wet and half of the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.  When it’s just mixed, add the milk - carefully – and mix completely.  Add the remaining dry ingredients and combine again.

STEP 4

Fill a donut pan with the batter and bake for 10-12 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Let the donuts cool.

STEP 5

When the donuts are cool, combine together powdered sugar and milk then top with grated coconut.  

Serve with Shrimp Curry Soup

1 cup sugar

2 tbs canola oil

2 eggs

½ tsp red curry paste

1 ¼ tsp salt

3 ½ tsp baking powder

2 tsp curry powder

3 cups flour

1 ½ cups milk

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup shredded coconut

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When I was a kid, we ate minestrone soup at every family gathering because my aunt made it for every birthday party. She made that and spinach dip. The spinach dip that’s made from frozen spinach and vegetable soup mix. I just made it for St. Patrick’s Day and it was as epic as I remembered as a child.

I’ve made the minestrone in my book - the real original minestrone that my aunt used to make. And I made a version with winter vegetables in the app and you can find the recipe here.

This version is for spring. It’s a celebration of everything at the farmer’s market right now. A celebration of everything that arrives in the CSA box this week. It’s perfect for those spring nights that are a little cool but you’re still looking forward to summer.

The brilliant part of this soup is that it cooks in literally 20 minutes. Once the veggies are softened and a little crispy, it takes a few minutes to bring to a boil, then the tiny little orzo pasta cooks in minutes. Like three. Literally, it cooks so fast.

SPRING MINESTRONE SOUP

serves 4

STEP 1

Chop all vegetables into basically bite sized pieces and cook in a stock pot with olive oil until a little brown on the edges.  Season with salt.  

STEP 2

Pour in garbanzo beans and stock and bring to a boil.  Season with oregano and basil.  

STEP 3

Add asparagus and pasta to the pot and cook 3 minutes until the pasta is done.  Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

STEP 4

Serve with fresh basil and parmesan cheese.

1 zucchini, about 1 cup chopped

1 fennel bulb, sliced

1 leek, whites sliced thin

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 bunch asparagus

2 cups green beans, chopped

2 tbs olive oil

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 can garbanzo beans

4 cups vegetable stock

1 cup orzo

2 tbs fresh basil

¼ cup parmesan cheese

Salt & pepper