Bowl of Sunshine with a side of Pumpkin Cranberry Muffin and Sauteed Kale with Yellow Pepper

 

 

 

Last night I really wanted to make pumpkin muffins with cranberries and walnuts.  Ok, ok, I am a spiritless spook who had no intention of going anywhere near downtown Santa Cruz on Halloween.  So... what better place to be than in my kitchen up here in the hills making some amazing soul satisfying food?

 

 

One of my lovely yoga students turned me on to an amazing web site http://grandmadave.com/

 

This guy who is an amazing chef, unicycle rider, and life liver does a lot of work with cancer patients and has devised some outstanding recipes. I like his stuff even though it's not all vegan - oh well! Watch his videos to catch a glimpse of his totally bad ass knife skills ! Awesome skill. Simply awesome. I could watch him chop vegetables all day long.

 

I decided to try his "Bowl of Sunshine" which is basically a 6 ingredient recipe!  I bought two small just picked butternut squash at the Farmer's market for the soup.  I was thrilled to see the vibrant orange color of the squash flesh.  It seemed so different than when I buy a butternut at the grocery store where it probably was stored for a long period of time and then sat out awaiting purchase.  The squash I purchased was FRESH, FRESH, FRESH!  I am lucky.

 

 

 

You will need to chop a bit to make this soup.  1 yellow onion, 2 - 4 cloves of garlic, and 1/4 cup sliced fresh ginger.

 

 

1/4 cup of fresh ginger may seem like a lot but this soup can handle it and ginger has amazing anti-inflammatory properties!

 

 

Because I am totally food nerdy enough to watch a 16 minute video, I learned that it is actually pretty easy to slice the skin off a butternut squash and then pare it away from the seedy center rather than cut it in half and scoop the seeds and guts out.  Way easy, folks!

 

 

This is a photo of the squash added to the soup pot after sauteing the onion, garlic, and ginger and then doing a "deglazing" with rice wine vinegar.

 

Here's the recipe:

 

1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 - 4 cloves of garlic sliced

1/4 cup fresh ginger sliced and chopped

1 large butternut squash (I used 2 small), skinned and chopped

1 cup rice wine vinegar or mirin

2 or more quarts of water (I bet you could use vegetable broth too)

 

1. Heat a soup pot until hot and then add the oil
2. Saute the onion, garlic, and fresh ginger until translucent (maybe 4 or 5 minutes)
3. Add the rice wine vinegar to deglaze and scrap up all the bits from the bottom (maybe another 5 minutes)
4. Add the skinned and chopped squash and cook for another minute or so
5. Add about 2 quarts of water or broth and bring the soup to a boil.
6. I think this soup cooked for at least 90 minutes on a slow boil.
7. Pull the chunky stuff out with a slotted spoon and place in the blender with some of the liquid.  Blend carefully because this stuff is hot.  I always fill the blender about 1/2 way and then hold a kitchen towel over the lid of my vitamix. Blend in batches and add water to desired consistency.
8. I added about 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the soup at the end
9. You can garnish the soup with chopped chives, cilantro, or orange or lemon zest

 

Isn't that BEAUTIFUL!  And it is delicious.

 

The husband and I had this vibrant soup with a side of sauteed kale and fresh yellow peppers and a pumpkin cranberry walnut muffin.  Would you like that recipe too?  Next blog post, I promise!

 

 

I have a thing for my red Le Creseut wok and my red knock off Le Creseut soup pan!  Look at them hard at work on my double burner Wolf island stove! (gifts of red dishware and pots and pans are highly appreciated - hint, hint!)

 

 

A close up of the side dishes to the sunny bowl of soup.  A good Halloween dinner was eaten by all up here!