Out of your Gourd

One night last week, I broke from tradition and exercised after work. I met a close girlfriend for a hot yoga class. It was amazing but I didn’t return home until nearly 7.00 pm, which meant one of two things in the dinner department. Numero uno, I could do something elaborate, which would have us dining at an hour civilized only in Spain or option two, pull something together on the quick. As I was a bit ravenous and Matthew was patiently waiting for his supper, I opted for the latter. While I am still adhering to the vegetarian weeknight meals, I procured two pounds of chopped butternut squash from the fridge that I had planned to slowly roast in coconut oil with smoked paprika alongside other vegetables and sweet potatoes. Cute idea but not on this night. Instead, I rummaged around the kitchen for other supporting ingredients and churned out the below soup. It was delicious in flavor and luxurious in texture. Were I hosting a dinner party, no one could possibly know that I pulled this together on the immediate. If you want to keep this a classic butternut squash soup simply omit the ginger, Thai green curry and coconut sauce. If you are adventuresome and like complex flavors, leave them in. Something different, try it. Why not? I served our butternut squash soup ladled in bowls and dished up alongside steamed gluten free brown rice. It was the business and we both had leftovers for lunch the following day. My kind of dinner for sure.

Butternut Squash Soup, Thai Style

Fixings

½ TBS extra virgin olive oil

2 lb butternut squash – peeled and chopped

2 carrots – chopped in your food processor

2 ribs of celery – chopped in your food processor

1 onion – we used red and it was fab – chopped in your food processor

1 granny smith apple – peeled and chopped

3 inch piece of ginger – peeled and chopped

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp nutmeg

1 TBS Thai green curry – red curry is also suitable

½ TBS fish sauce

4 cups of stock

2/3 cups of light coconut milk

Sprig or two of fresh thyme or cilantro

Get Cooking

1. On medium high heat, warm your olive oil and add onion, carrots and celery. Stir until softened. This is also a sound time to throw in the ginger, red pepper flakes, nutmeg, Thai green curry and fish sauce.

2. Next please add your butternut squash and apples. Give everything a big stir. Pour in the broth and coconut milk. Bring to a boil and lower to simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or so. During this time, the squash and apples should become nice and soft.

3. Now we joyously welcome the task of blending our soup to ensure a creamy finish. You can use your immersion blender (please watch your fingers), Vitamix (want, want Elizabeth), Cuisinart or blender. I didn’t want to deal with the sometimes headache of cleaning our Cuisinart and instead used our Kitchen Aid blender. I blended in batches, four to be precise. Serve warm with some fresh thyme or chopped cilantro. If you want to get cute, you could add some cooked quinoa, lentils or brown rice. Avocado toast would also be fitting. No matter which way you cut the mustard, enjoy.