Roasted Kabocha and Bell Pepper Soup

This soup is amazingly satisfying. Roasting all the vegetables first really adds a nice touch of flavor to this dish. Dense in flavor, creamy in texture. A perfect warm meal. Kabocha is one of my favorite squashes. It is so dense and rich and sweet. I recommend not subbing the squash. The kabocha is really what gives this soup it’s beautifully sweet flavor. This soup is so delicious that I did not feel the need to add a bunch of spices.

I had somewhat planned ahead for this as my oven was on for some stuffed mushrooms that I was making one evening, and so I decided to jump on the heat opportunity and throw in my squash as well as 4 large bell peppers to roast so I could make a soup the next day for lunch. Which made this soup seem very quick and simple to make. Although I truly loved it and will turn on the oven just for those ingredients so I can make it again 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 medium sized kabocha squash
• 4 large red bell peppers
• 7-9 cups of liquid (I did half water, half vegetable broth), depending on the thickness you like
• salt to taste

Steps:

• preheat oven to 375* F
• wash cut your peppers in 4’s, taking out the seeds and stem, lay them on a baking sheet
• put your whole squash in the oven as is
• check the peppers after 30 minutes, if the skin is turning brown and starting to pull away from the flesh, take them out
• put them in a closed container to cool
• take out the squash after 45 minutes or until you can easily stick a knife through it
• peel the bell peppers (the baking makes the skin so easily to peel.)**
• peel and seed the squash**
• put all ingredients in the blender and blend until nice and smooth (you will have to do this in 2 batches)
• serve and enjoy!

**you do not have to peel these as the skin is edible, I wanted to do it for an ultra creamy texture.

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Butternut Squash Soup

This soup is sweet and creamy, as well as easy, satisfying and comforting. Thanks to the recently added hidden red lentils to this recipe, it is also high in protein.

This is one of my favorite winter soups. One I grew up eating. Since we had an enormous vegetable garden, I grew up eating the highest quality organic vegetables, and we ate mostly from that garden. Which means that during the winter we ate a lot of squash and loads of soups. Although I complained a lot as a kid, I am so grateful that my parents instilled such good eating habits in us and showed me first hand what real food is.

This soup reminds me of home. We would eat it at my grandma’s house too and she would always serve it with shredded cheese. The kind that melts and makes long strings. Mmmmmmmm.

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato, wished and roughly chopped
• 1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 3/4 cup red lentils
• 7 cups of liquid (I used half vegetable stock, half water)
• 1 TBS salt

Steps:

• In a large pot, sautee the onions until slightly transparent
• add all other ingredients
• bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium low
• cook, covered, until the vegetables are soft, about 25 minutes
• blend everything together, either with an immersion blender or a stand up blender

This soup will keep for several days in the fridge, and is also a great meal to make ahead for a lazy parenting night.

Carrot Coconut Soup

This recipe was inspired by my really good friend Sam. She made it for me this weekend and I loved it so much I had to come home and make my version of it for my family and now share it with you.

Ingredients:

• 1 TBS coconut oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 6 medium to large carrots, chopped
• 3 medium to large potatoes, chopped (if using russet, peel them)
• 1/4 cup fresh ginger, chopped
• 6 cups water
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 small can coconut milk (5.6oz or 165 ml)
• 1 TBS fresh ginger (optional)
• cayenne pepper (optional)

Steps:

• Melt the coconut oil in a large pot
• add onions and cook 2 to 4 minutes
• add carrots and potatoes and mix well to coat with the oil, cook another 3 minutes
• add water, ginger and salt, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook another 15 minutes or so, until the veggies are soft but not falling apart
• turn off heat, add the coconut milk and blend!
• I added 1 TBS of fresh ginger at the end to add a little extra kick and to boost our immune systems during this cold weather. Make sure to test this if you have children sensitive to too much spice. We love ginger at our house 🙂
• sprinkle a dash of cayenne pepper for extra heat