Squash Soup

Acorn Squash Soup

 

This soup is a wonderful meal for the fall.  It is both savory and sweet and since it is vegan and gluten free, it's a dish everyone can enjoy!

Acorn squash are everywhere this season!  Take advantage of all the vitamin C and antioxidents that they provide, while warming yourself up with a bowl of soup on a cold fall night. 

 

 Ingredients

2 Acorn Squash

Olive Oil for drizzling

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups veggie stock

1 tablespoon agave nectar (or any sweetener you have on hand)

1 teaspoon minced ginger (optional)

1/4 cup almond milk

pinch of nutmeg

Topping

1 ear corn

1 sprig of parsley

Directions

The first step to making this soup is roasting the squash.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Cut your squash in half.  Use a spoon to scoop out all of the seeds and stringy bits.  Drizzle the squash with a little olive oil and top with the salt and pepper.  Place the squash on a sheet pan, flesh side up and cook for about 45 minutes or until the flesh is soft.  Here is the cooked squash, which is quite delicious on it's own.

 Now that the squash is cooked, scoop out the flesh from the skin and put it into a pot.  Add the stock, agave, and ginger* (if you like it).  Bring this to a simmer and puree using a stick blender.  If you don't have a stick blender, you can use a regular blender.  Just be sure to do small batches and remove the fill cap, leaving the lid with a hole in it.  If you leave the fill cap on, the steam from the hot soup will build up and you will end up with a big mess in the kitchen.  Believe me, that's a lesson that you only need to learn once :)

(Pour your blended soup back to the pot, if using standard blender.)  Stir in the almond milk and bring it back to a simmer.  Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

You can certainly eat the soup as is, but I like to top it with some fresh corn and a sprig of parsley.  To cook the corn, just remove the husk and as much silk as possible.  Place the ear of corn in a pot of boiling water.  Cook for 3 minutes and remove the corn.  Let the corn cool and then cut off a half inch from the top and bottom.  This will give you a nice flat surface to use as you use your knife to shave the kernels away from the cob.   Salt and pepper the corn to taste and add about 3 tablespoons of corn to each bowl of soup.  Top with a sprig of parsley for color and you are ready to serve.  Enjoy!