Butternut Squash and Greens Soup
Nourishing and soothing, this soup is easy to make, especially if you have a blender wand to whiz up the contents, rather than transferring to the blender and back. I like this soup hot or cold, with any kind of bread or cracker, a simple salad, and rich dessert (for breastfeeding calories!). It freezes well, so make a double batch. You can use hokkaido, pumpkin or other dark orange winter squash instead of the butternut.
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced or press
- 3 tbsp oil
- 4 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- 1 cup ground almonds (use a blender or food processor)
- 2 cups water, chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tiny dry Thai chili pepper or few dashes of Tabasco (optional)
- couple of curry leaves (optional)
- 1 14 oz. can of coconut milk
- 3 fistfuls fresh clean spinach or chopped chard
- 1 small bunch of cilantro or basil, stems removed
- Garnish: lemon, lime, yogurt, silken tofu
Instructions
- Sauté onion and garlic in oil. Add the next 8 ingredients (squash through curry leaves) and simmer until the squash is tender. If you want a creamy soup, remove the bay leaf, pepper and curry leaves and blend in the blender or with a wand.
- After blending, stir in the coconut milk, chopped spinach or chard, and cilantro or basil.
- Garnish with lemon or lime slices and /or a spoonful of yogurt or tofu.