There are few things I enjoy more on a winter evening than a
bowl of piping hot soup, especially one that, while simmering, makes the entire
house smell warm and cozy. Tonight, my soup inspiration came from my oldest
childhood friend, Laura, who sent me a link to https://www.sproutedkitchen.com, and raved about this soup. The soup is really more of an inspiration than a prescription. But, I will give credit where credit is due! Thanks to Laura and
to Sara from the Sprouted Kitchen!
This soup took less than 45 minutes in total and I bought
most of the ingredients (pre-chopped!) from Trader Joe’s. Because, why make
more work when you have to? Did you know you can purchase pre-chopped onions
from TJ’s? So, I have a wonderfully fragrant soup and my mascara remained
intact. Win, win. Some of the other hacks for this recipe included pre-cubed
butternut squash and fresh ginger paste from TJ’s, and bottled organic lime
juice from Whole Foods.
If you follow this blog, you will know that I’m not so much
of a recipe follower. Rather, I like to use recipes as inspiration and
guidance, but I’m a color-outside-the-lines kind of cook, and a type-A-live-inside-the-lines
kind of person everywhere else in life. So, it’s no surprise that I varied the
original recipe from Sprouted Kitchen. Most of the changes were with the spices…
I like flavor forward food! I also added more lentils and butternut squash as I
prefer a thicker soup (more like a stew in consistency). I served this soup with
fresh gluten-free vegan white bread from the Flying Apron Bakery. Next time, I will probably add shredded kale when I saute the onions and garlic, and I might add diced potatoes for an even thicker stew consistency. Crunchy fried garbanzo beans would be a great soup topper for this dish.
Spicy Butternut Squash and Lentil Soup
4 Tbsp. olive oil
1 ½ yellow onion, peeled & chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4Tbsp. tomato paste
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. curry powder
¾ tsp. cayenne – I like my food spicy
a pinch of sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 ½ cups red lentils
24 ounces peeled and chopped butternut squash (about two
medium squash)
1 quart low sodium vegetable broth
a 13.5 ounce can of coconut milk
about 1 tablespoon of ginger paste
fresh lime juice, to taste
Saute the garlic and onion with the olive oil in the bottom
of a large Dutch oven. After a few minutes, add the tomato paste and spices. Saute for about 2 minutes to bring the spices together (becomes sort of a
paste). Add the vegetable broth, butternut squash, and lentils. Bring up to a
boil, then immediately turn the temperature down to low and cover (leave about
1” for steam to escape). Simmer for 30 minutes. In the last 5 minutes, add the
coconut milk, grated ginger, and lime juice. Serve with fresh bread.
