I always stock my kitchen with butternut squash. Although technically it’s a fruit, butternut squash is often referred to as a vegetable. It can be purchased year round at my local Farmer’s Market but I especially love to eat it during the winter months when I can make a warming soup out of it. On it’s own butternut squash is relatively low in calories (not that I’m counting), high in fiber, vitamin A and potassium. It also has moderate levels of vitamin C, the B vitamins, and magnesium. Here is my recipe for roasted butternut squash soup. Enjoy!
Preheat your oven to 400. Brush a baking pan with coconut oil.
Peel, deseed, and chop up a medium sized butternut squash and place on the pan. Save the seeds, you will be using them later.
Brush each piece of squash with coconut oil and season with sea salt.
Bake for about 40 minutes or until the pieces become golden brown and softer to the touch. Let cool.
Place squash in a blender with 2 cups of stock or water, coconut milk, cinnamon, ground ginger, cayenne, and a pinch of sea salt.
Blend until creamy. Taste and add more seasonings as necessary. Add the rest of the water/stock and blend. Consistency should be creamy and somewhat thick. If you like your soup thinner or thicker adjust the amount of water/stock used. Poor mixture in a pot and bring to a light boil then reduce to low heat.
While the soup is heating up, you can prepare the seeds. Rinse them down in water to wash off any excess flesh. Pat dry.
Coat seeds with coconut oil, smoked paprika, and sea salt. Spread them out on a cookie sheet and bake at 300 for 15 – 20 minutes.
Soup is ready to serve. Garnish with lime zest and roasted butternut squash seeds.
With a vast drop in temperature, darker skies and rainy days, winter is the most yin of all the seasons. It is associated with the kidney and bladder organs, the color black, the element water, the emotion fear, and salty and bitter flavors.
Goji berries are one of the most well known Chinese herbs in the US. Used for over 2000 years in China, they were first mentioned in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, the oldest known book on Chinese herbs in 200 BC. They are prized for their ability to tonify blood and yin without causing stagnation. Consumed daily in China as a food and herbal medicine, goji berries are revered for their anti-aging properties. They are used in many beauty tonics.
