Mmmm. Sounds good, eh? Bear with me. In the Winter months, the body craves warmth. I like to call the soups I make “kitchen sink†soups, because they are essentially made with everything (veggies) left in my kitchen, save for the sink.
The ingredients I used will be different than those I use for this same “recipe†next week, because I’m bound to have different vegetables hanging around leftover from the work week.
This past Sunday I made a blended soup of carrots, red pepper, kabocha squash, dill, parsley, onion and garlic. The verdict: never can go wrong. Whatever the combination of vegetables is, you’re always going to end up with an earthy, warm and oh-so-comforting result.
P.S. No fat. No salt. Only goodness all around.
This week’s recipe happened to be filled with everything Winter skin could possibly crave for: Vitamin C, beta-carotene and Vitamin A. This fiber-rich soup also does wonders for digestion.
Blended Carrot & Kabocha Squash Soup
Ingredients:
6 medium-sized carrots
2 red bell peppers
1 white onion
2 cups kobacha squash, chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tsp pepper
4-6 cups water
handful of chopped parsley
handful of chopped dill
salt, to taste (optional)
Serves: 4
Directions:
Chop everything in even-sized pieces so they cook at the same rate. For the red pepper, make sure to remove the seeds, and for the garlic, just crush it.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the temperature to medium-low so it simmers for another 20-30 minutes.
Check the tenderness of the veggies with a fork—should be soft and easy to poke through.
While the soup is still hot, add the handful of chopped herbs (parsley and dill), and then put mixture into refrigerator to cool. Letting it set and cool allows for the flavors to marry with one another and develop a deeper taste. Also, if using a blender, nothing good every came out of blending blazin’ liquids…trust me.
Once cool, remove a few big scoops full of the veggies so you can add it back to the blended mixture for some texture.
Blend away, making sure to add the liquid part of the soup slowly into the cooked veggies so you can control how thick/thin the soup becomes.
When finished blending, combine the mixture with the reserved chunks back into the cooking pot and warm up for eating.
Guiltless and a perfect way to keep warm in the Autumn/Winter months.
Sprinkle with a bit of salt as you see fit, but try to enjoy it in its purest form, appreciating the tastes of the veggies and herbs.
Bon appetit!
xo Aylin