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Creamy Kabocha & Red Lentil Soup

Creamy Kabocha & Red Lentil Soup

Orange is a color of celebration, ritual, and happiness—a shade that instantly lifts the spirits. This pureed soup is so easy to make from ingredients stocked in your pantry, and it’s a great one to ask a visitor to whip up for you.
The slightly sweet taste and grounding properties of kabocha squash are especially comforting on days when you might feel teary or blue, and a generous amount of lubricating oil helps to remedy inner dryness and wind, soothing the nerves further.
Recipe from The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother by Heng Ou
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Course Soup
Cuisine Mediterranean
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

  • 3 tbsp sesame oil or coconut oil
  • 1/2 white or yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1/2 shallot, roughly chopped
  • 1 medium kabocha squash, peeled and cut into small cubes (substitute acorn or butternut squash)
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp curry powder
  • 2 qts vegetable broth
  • 2 cups red lentils
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce (substitute tamari or Bragg Liquid Aminos)
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Warm the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and shallot and lightly brown them, stirring with a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes. Add the squash, cumin, and curry powder and lightly sauté with the onions, about 5 minutes more.
  • Reduce heat to medium-low, add the broth, and bring to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce heat to low, and cook for 40 minutes. Add the lentils and continue to cook for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the lentils and squash are tender.
  • Let the soup cool slightly, then transfer it to a blender in batches and puree until creamy, if you like, or stop when some of the squash is still chunky. (Or use a hand blender to blend the soup in the pot.) Season with the soy sauce and nutritional yeast, if using, to taste.
  • Drink throughout the day. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze in zip-tight plastic bags or glass mason jars (see page 130) for up to 3 months.
Keyword postpartum soups