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Macro Chef's Blog

 

Makes 4 servings or 4 cups
As easy as it is luscious, this creamy pottage created by my sister Leone Webster pleases every time. I like to mix squash varieties such as butternut with kabocha or delicata for rich flavor variations.

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 1/2 pounds butternut and/or kabocha squash, about 4 cups, peeled and cut in large bite-size chunks
• 2 cups water
• 3-inch piece kombu sea vegetable
• 3 tablespoons white miso
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• Garnish: sunflower sprouts, cress (water, ancho, curly, etc.) or microgreens

1. In a 3-quart pot, heat oil and sauté onion and garlic. Cover and allow to sweat until soft, about 10 minutes, stirring two or three times. Add squash, water and kombu and bring to boil. Turn heat to medium-low to cook covered until squash is soft, about 10 minutes.

2. Remove kombu. Purée soup with remaining ingredients, and then return soup to pot. Heat through to bring out and blend flavors. Garnish to serve.

Variations: For ease, bake squash whole at 450° until tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 hour. Cut squash in half and when cool enough to handle, discard peel and seeds. Omit kombu. Purée with sautéed onion and garlic, miso, cumin and pepper, then add water gradually to texture desired. Heat to marry flavors.

Squash Soup with Red Pepper Swirl Zuppa di Zucca: Rinse, peel off black/roasted spots, and drain an 8-ounce jar (1 cup) of roasted red peppers. Purée until smooth. Makes ½ cup. With a soup spoon, pour/swirl the bright red purée on top of individual servings of soup. Garnish with a bright green leaf of parsley. Stunning!

Spicy Holiday Squash Soup: Omit last four ingredients. Add to purée: 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup or honey, 1-inch piece fresh ginger or about 1 ½ teaspoons peeled and grated small, 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder, ½ teaspoon each cumin, cinnamon, chili powder and sea salt, and 1 tablespoon white miso. Garnish soup with 2 tablespoons chopped dried cranberries (fruit-sweetened) and 3 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut, light toasted, and/or a sprig of parsley.

Cumin-Scented Squash Soup with Wild Mushrooms, Tempeh Bacon, Pine Nuts & Chives: Heat 1/2 teaspoon olive oil in a small saucepan and brown 1 strip sliced tempeh bacon on both sides. Transfer to a bowl. Heat another 1/2 teaspoon oil and add a handful of sliced mushrooms (chanterelle, shiitake or oyster) and a pinch of salt. Stir and cover to cook until done, about 3 minutes. Stir once after mushrooms start to sweat. Place a spoonful of mushrooms on top of soup and sprinkle with tempeh bacon, a few lightly toasted pine nuts (300° for 8 minutes) and chopped chives.

For 4 servings, per serving:
Calories: 140     Protein: 5gm     Saturated Fat: 0.4gm     Fiber: 3gm     Carbohydrates: 24gm     Fat: 3gm     Cholesterol: 0     Sodium: 346mg
Calories from Protein: 13%     Calories from Fats: 18%     Calories from Carbohydrates: 69%

by Meredith McCarty