Butternut Squash Soup
National Soup Month starts the New Year off on a warm and comforting note. My first homemade soups were always large batches made for a crowd back in the Garden of Eden days (my health food store and restaurant). This nutritious squash soup recipe was inspired from one of my favorite "go to" cookbooks - The Cabbagetown Cafe Cookbook by Julie Jordan. Jordan's recipes were always delicious and allowed the flavors of the vegetables and herbs to shine through. They were always popular with our customers.
No Need for Chicken Stock
Soup recipes featuring
butternut, broccoli or split peas, all can definitely hold
their own and be outstanding - if not even better - without using chicken stock. Chicken stock is so often over-used, especially in soup recipes. For soups where a vegetable is the star, using chicken stock can overpower the flavor.
Squash Soup Cooking Tips
- Squash flesh can be cubed and cooked right in the soup pot with the potatoes; however, roasting the squash first makes it easier to scoop out the seeds and enhances the flavor.
- For special occasions, garnish the soup with snipped chives and a swirl of thinned out yogurt or creme fresh.
- Ingredient measurements do not have to be exact when making soup. Use what you have available and season to your taste.
Ingredients
1 Butternut Squash ~2 lb, 14oz (~1322g)1 Tablespoon (14g) Olive oil
1 Sweet Onion ~8.8oz (~250g)
1/2 optional Hot Chile or Red Pepper (Peppers are easy to grow and dry. We keep jars full and always have them for use as spice)
1 Tablespoon (~10g) minced Garlic
1/2 teaspoon (1g) sweet Curry
1/8 cup Cream Sherry (optional)
3 Potatoes ~1lb, 6 oz (~636g)
2 Carrots (~155g)
2 Bay leaves
few sprigs fresh Parsley(~3g)
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
4 cups (946ml) water
2 teaspoons (4g) minced ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons (3g) ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon (1g) ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon (6g) salt
4 cups (946ml) soy milk (we used vanilla Silk)
- Carefully cut the squash in half; rub olive oil on the part that will be face down on the foil lined baking sheet
- Bake about 90 minutes or until soft and you notice some areas starting to turn light golden brown*
- When the squash is cooked well, use a spatula and turn the squash over to let cool.
- Using a spoon, scoop out and discard seeds
* While the squash is roasting,
chop the onion and optional hot or red pepper
- Add olive oil to a large soup pot and heat on medium
- Add chopped onion and red pepper. Cook until onion is translucent. Try not to caramelize the onion or it will make the soup brown in color.*
*While the onion is cooking, mince the garlic and peel
and chop the potatoes and carrots
- Add the minced garlic to the onions; stir in sweet curry
- Add optional Sherry and stir
- Add potato, carrots, bay leaves, parsley sprigs, black pepper and water. Stir, cover and simmer until all the veggies are very soft
- Remove the bay leaves and add the remaining seasonings: ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt
- Puree (hand held mixers work great because you can keep the soup right in the soup pot and not transfer it to a blender or food processor)
- Add the soymilk, mix well
- Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Serve hot. Garnish as desired.
GardenCuizine Nutrition Analysis: Calculated using USDA Nutrition Data
Good Source: dietary Fiber, Vitamin K, Vitamin B12, Potassium, Manganese
Excellent Source: Vitamin A and Vitamin C
Serving size 6oz (1/15th of recipe): Calories 123, carbohydrates 24g, dietary Fiber 3.9g (16%DV), total Fat 2.4g (4%DV), Protein 3.5g (7%DV), Vitamin A 6181IU (124%DV wow!), Vitamin C 21mg (35%DV), Vitamin D 32IU (8%DV), Vitamin E 1.4mg (7%DV), Vitamin K 13 mcg (16%DV), Vitamin B6 .5mg (23%DV), Vitamin B12 .8mcg (13%DV), Calcium 127mg (13%DV), Potassium 492mg (14%DV), Manganese .3mg (16%DV), phytosterols 4.7mg
Related Links:
Winter Squash Varieties and Nutrition
Winter Squash Growing and Bread Recipe
Espelette Pepper Warms Up Your Recipes by Diana Wind RD
Photos and Blog Post Copyright ©2012 Wind. All rights reserved.
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