Vanilla-Scented Butternut Squash + Pear Soup with Cashew Creme

Here's another post I did for Sakara Life. Click the link at the bottom for the recipe!

I made this soup on the first day of fall, with sounds of a football game coaching me in the background, and it could not have been more satisfying. Now by football I of course mean reruns of Friday Night Lights, because let's be serious, I have no desire to watch an actual game. But I can get into all the other stuff that goes along with being a sports fan, mainly eating and hanging out with friends before Monday morning ruins everything. I should let you know now that my friends and I have serious Monday anxiety. We try our best to take advantage of those two days of freedom, and promise each other to not bring up the "M" word until late Sunday night. But sometimes, your laughing with your favorite people on a Saturday night, and it sneaks up on you. That overwhelming feeling that it's almost over. I guess if we didn't put in so many hours during the workweek, the weekend wouldn't feel so great - yeah right. 

I guess once the initial shock of my alarm clock wears off, I'll have a bowl of this soup to look forward to for lunch. Packed with carotenoids, potassium, and vitamin B6, butternut squash is a powerhouse autumn staple, and lends itself nicely to both sweet and savory partners. I love combining it with salty feta and soy sauce, but with the abundance of pears and apples at my fingertips, I sweetened things up a bit this time. Warming spices were a no-brainer as was the maple syrup, but I got fancy with the cashew creme and vanilla bean. That's what weekends are for though - wearing platforms and cooking with fifteen dollar sticks of vanilla. This was actually my first time making cashew creme, and now that I have, I can see it becoming a regular menu item. First of all, it could not be easier, but most importantly, it's delicious. Use it anytime a recipe calls for cream, in place of yogurt, or even thinned out a bit and blended into your morning smoothie. Besides being my favorite nut, cashews are high in copper and magnesium, which both do great things for your hair, skin, and bones. Now pour yourself a bowl of soup, set aside a few hours to get to know your DVR, and enjoy sweater weather. Happy fall!

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE!

Caramelized Cauliflower + Onion Bisque

I know it's almost July, and a recipe for hot soup is probably not what you're looking for, but when your air conditioner is in the kitchen (your favorite room in your house), and the kitchen is where you can be found at all hours of the day, you're going to make something hot to warm up those bones of yours. I mean I can only wear so many layers in the height of summer without looking completely nuts. And yes, I do take advantage of the heat and make my way outside to eat, but I'm also paranoid that I'm getting a sunburn pretty much everyday of the year. So if you don't have a large umbrella and a hat for me, maybe invite someone else over - we'll meet up again come October. 

Even if you have to wait a few months, make this soup. It's delicious. Roasted anything will pretty much guarantee you a sweeter, more flavorful meal. And when you're throwing onions into the mix, they basically come out caramelized, and like a fried egg, caramelized onions can send any recipe over the top. If you've made Greek lemon-roasted potatoes before, this is sort of a soup version of that, just lightened up a bit with the addition of cauliflower. And I'm not sure who's familiar with the Plymouth, MA area (pilgrims, mayflower, think back to your early school days), but my absolute favorite breakfast/lunch/dessert spot, Blue Blinds, serves an incredible butternut bevy soup, where rosemary-roasted butternut squash meets creamy feta meets my mouth. And somehow, in my crazy mind, this caramelized cauliflower and onion bisque is on it's way to being that coveted butternut bevy, with a lot less butter I'm sure. Even without any changes it bares a pretty strong resemblance, but if I sub the majority of the potatoes with butternut squash and throw in some feta cheese, I think I'll find my new favorite thing- check back for an update on that.    

If you're ever in the Plymouth area, make sure you check out Blue Blinds Bakery. Located in America's homeland, in a gorgeous old colonial, everything is made in house, and primarily organic. Their breads are out of this world (all my friends swear by the jalapeno cheddar). They're hours can be a little tricky, and they're closed on Saturdays, so make sure you call ahead to guarantee they're open. I'm sure everything on the menu is delicious, but my frequent visits include the aforementioned butternut bevy (soups are always changing with the seasons), caprese sandwich, egg and cheddar on cranberry almond bread, incredibly fluffy and nutty spelt pancakes, dried fruit, nut, and carob clusters (appropriately named plymouth rocks), and an iced lemon maté to wash it all down. And if that doesn't entice you, come for a little history of where it all began. 

Caramelized Cauliflower + Onion Bisque

make sure to leave the cauliflower, onions, and potatoes pretty chunky for roasting

slightly adapted from The First Mess

2 heads cauliflower, core removed and chopped into rough florets

2 lg Vidalia onions, chopped into 2-inch pieces 

4 sm-med yukon gold potatoes, chopped into 1-2 inch pieces

3 sprigs fresh rosemary, minced

4 tbsp olive oil

sea salt + pepper

1 lemon, halved, plus 1 more for after pureeing 

4 cups vegetable broth

3 or so cups water

Preheat your oven to 400ºF. 

Spread the cauliflower, onions, and potatoes onto a couple baking sheets, and divide the rosemary and olive oil between the two. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked black pepper, and give it a toss. 

Roast the vegetables for about an hour, tossing everything a few times along the way to promote even browning. When everything is nice and caramelized, remove from the oven, and squeeze your lemon halves over the top, dropping the lemon rinds themselves onto the hot pans afterwards. Scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of your pans while you spread the lemon juice around. 

Throw everything into a big soup pot and add your broth. Using an immersion blender (or let cool slightly for a regular blender), puree the soup, adding water along the way until you reach your desired consistency. Leave it slightly chunky for some good texture (no baby food here). Stir in the juice of an additional lemon (I LOVE lemon, so maybe start with half, or none at all), taste for seasoning, and pour yourself a bowl of comfort on this warm and sunny Saturday. 

Curried Cauliflower Soup

Did You Know? Scientists believe that turmeric, the spice which turns curry dishes yellow, stops the growth of leukemia cells, and seems to protect against damage from cigarette smoke and some processed food.

I'm guessing I'm like many of you out there. You subscribe to delicious magazines, with all the intentions in the world to recreate all of the recipes you drool over while flipping through the pages. Only to find a stack of read-through magazines at the end of the year, and no recipes to show for it. Determined to change this, when my next issue of Vegetarian Times arrived in the mail, I put my apron on, and got cooking. Soup was the prominent feature of the January issue, so that is what you find yourself with today. Curried cauliflower soup to be exact.

With a snow storm at bay at any given moment, soup is so nourishing this time of year. Thick, creamy, and intensely spiced, this soup is definately for the curry lovers out there. I was so surprised how full-bodied this soup ended up. The pureed cauliflower provided the perfect texture of without any added cream.

I used one apple here, but I may add another the next time. It definately helped to cut the spiciness of the curry powder, but the apple's flavor didn't really come through. I ended up serving this alongside apple slices (for dipping), but chopping them up even finer would make for an excellent garnish. I imagine a fruit chutney would be perfect as well. The recipe calls for one tablespoon of curry powder. If you're not a huge fan of spicy dishes, I would start with a 1/2 tablespoon, as the full tablespoon packed a lot of punch. I usually add buffalo sauce to everything, and I found myself taking a bite of an apple after each spoonful of soup. All that aside, this soup was really tasty, and a big hit when I served it for lunch the other week. Enjoy!

Curried Cauliflower Soup
If you find this soup to be on the thick side for your liking, I imagine a little coconut milk to smooth things out would be wonderful. It would also help to mellow out the heat.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium apple (I used Golden Delicious)
1 tablespoon curry powder (I used red curry)
1 clove garlic, sliced
1 large head cauliflower, chopped into 1-inch pieces
4 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon honey or agave nectar*
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, and saute for 5 to 7 minutes, or until soft and golden. Stir in apple, curry powder, and garlic, and cook for another 2 minutes, until the curry powder turns a deep yellow.

Add cauliflower and vegetable broth, and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes. Cool 20 minutes (helps to deepen the flavors), then blend in a food processor until smooth. Stir in honey and vinegar, and season with salt, if needed.

*I know it's only one teaspoon, but don't leave out the honey/agave, it really rounded out the flavors.

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Did You Know? It was not until 1941, that congress declared Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

I said I would share a few tips or suggestions for all those Thanksgiving leftovers, so here's some recipes that my family loves...

-Turkey and Cranberry Quesadillas
-Butternut Squash Soup, thin out my squash recipe with some broth
-Turkey Soup (and don't forget any extra gravy or stuffing-according to my mom)
-Cranberry Yogurt: yogurt w/ cranberry sauce mixed in and topped with toasted walnuts (pictured above)
-Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal: cooked oats, roasted pumpkin puree, toasted pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice (pictured below)...

-Toss leftover veggies (brussels sprouts, carrots, string beans) and stuffing with some rice or pasta and bake with a little parmesan cheese on top
-Potato or Squash Pancakes
-Add a few eggs to a mixture of stuffing, squash, finely chopped veggies, cranberry sauce, etc., and make your own Thanksgiving Veggie Burger

Be creative, almost anything goes with these versatile flavors!