Sunday Soup - Rustic Butternut Squash

I'm a fan of healthy, homemade food... and I know it's crucial to my wellbeing that I prepare and eat truly nourishing meals. What that looks like changes often, depending on where in the world I'm living, what my schedule entails, and fluctuations in my specific needs at any given moment. I also adjust what I'm eating with the seasons. This autumn I'm living in (chilly!) Northern Michigan in the US, so my body and soul are calling for warm and comforting soups.

My intention here is to create and share a series of "Sunday Soups" - a weekly soup or stew recipe, prepared each weekend to sustain me (and you!) throughout the week. There was a time in my life where I could create nearly every meal from scratch... this is not that season! Having a pot of something nutritious in the fridge feels ultra-valuable these days; it ensures that I'll be properly fed with little effort no matter how busy the week becomes. It also helps to prevent those hasty (and often regrettable!) choices that might be made if I suddenly find myself famished with no time to plan a proper meal. (I'm not the only one, right?!) Soup is the perfect make-ahead food, as it stores well and tastes great all week long.

So, let's do it! Delicious soups and stews are so easy to create and enjoy. I personally don't cook from recipes very often, but you'll notice as the weeks go on that I do keep things fairly simple and consistent, using a few basic, clean staple ingredients plus whatever fresh vegetables are on-hand or inspired me at the market each week. Feel free to adjust and modify each recipe I offer here according to your own tastes, what's seasonally available in your area, or the ingredients you happen to have on hand. Use the weekly offering as inspiration and let your own creativity flow! Or if you're not yet confident free-flowing in the kitchen, just follow the simple recipes exactly. I'll do my best to hone my recipe-writing skills and share some helpful tips and tricks along the way. 

I'm envisioning us all awakening and expanding our home cooking skills this season, and finding great pleasure and nourishment along the way. Thanks for joining me! Watch for the free option (coming soon) to sign up and have the recipes emailed to you each week.

I hope you'll find some inspiration here, and would truly delight in sharing the results of your efforts, so please feel welcome to post in the comments with a photo of your own soup at home!

Peace + Love,

Shelley

Sunday Soup - Rustic Butternut Squash

I adore a simple pureed soup of butternut squash with carrot, celery, onion, ginger and turmeric, and its something I make often through the colder months. This version is a bit different than my usual because I added zucchini (only because it was in the fridge!), garlic (hello cold season!), and kept it more rustic (read: lumpy texture) by blending it right in the pot with an immersion stick. I used a good-quality butter as the cooking fat today (that's simply what I had a lot of this week), but I often cook my squash soups in ghee or olive oil.

Feel free to add or subtract veggies, and choose your preferred oil - or simply leave it out altogether if you prefer an oil-free meal. And don't forget: the most crucial ingredient in truly nourishing food is LOVE. (Yes I really mean it!) So please put on some uplifting music or whatever you would enjoy to create a comfortable cooking space, keep a clean and positive environment, and find pleasure in the process. You'll feel and taste the difference in your results :) 

2 cups onion, chopped

2 cups carrot, chopped

2 cups celery, chopped

2 cups zucchini, chopped

6 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed

5 garlic cloves

1 tbsp salt

1/2 tbsp pepper

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

4 tbsp butter

6 cups water

Heat 2 tbsp of the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. 

(Reserve the rest of the butter to add later)

Add the onion, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and sauté until just translucent, lowering the heat if necessary to avoid browning. 

(I like to season each layer as I cook; the measurements listed above reflect the total amount of salt and pepper used, so use only part of each to season your onions)

Add the carrots and celery, sprinkle again with part of the salt and pepper, and sauté until just beginning to soften.

Add the butternut squash, zucchini, garlic, ginger, turmeric, and remaining butter and salt and pepper, stir well, and cook for just a minute or two to allow the spices to heat and coat the veggies.

(I usually soften - but not brown! - my vegetables for this soup. Today I accidentally caramelized them just a bit, as I walked away from the pot on the stove and the bottom layer browned. It wasn't quite burned, so I opted to keep going. This added an unexpected, and delicious, depth of flavor and sweetness to the soup.)

Add the water, cover, and simmer over low heat for 20-30 minutes, or until the squash is very soft.

(I like my squash soup to be a very thick and vegetable-rich puree, so I only use enough water to cover the vegetables. If you'd like a thinner soup, or to stretch your ingredients a bit farther, or you simply need more water to cover your vegetables, feel free to adjust as necessary!)

When everything is soft, blend to a chunky puree, then taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Now - Enjoy! And take pleasure in your efforts to feed yourself well :)

As the week goes on, I might sprinkle my bowls of soup with hemp seeds or add a handful of chopped baby spinach or kale. Hope you'll enjoy this soup, and follow the weeks to come - and please share your own soup creations here in the comments!