Winter Soup

We went out for lunch one day this past week, something we rarely do... to get together with the people that we house/kitty sat for the past three winters.  It has been a few months since we have been together and well past time for a visit!

The place we chose is one of those great little out of the way joints, that serves breakfast all day till they close at 3:30 p.m., along with great burgers and some soups, salads, and sandwiches.  The decor is colorful and funky, the serving staff are friendly and the prices are pretty darn good for the wonderful food and upbeat atmosphere.

When we first sat down I checked out the chalkboard for the daily specials and was quite excited to see Butternut Squash and Coconut Soup there... but before we got a chance to order, one of the gals erased it from the sign and replaced it with Winter Broth, Butternut Squash and Kale Soup.  I have to admit I was a bit disappointed but decided to go ahead and have a bowl of soup with a gluten-free corn muffin anyway.  (Just as an aside, there was a message on the chalkboard that said all of the daily soups are dairy and gluten free.)

There was no need for disappointment!   It was delicious... a nicely spiced turkey broth, cubes of butternut squash and chunks of kale.  I couldn't have been happier.

And so I decided to try to make something similar at home.

I didn't have any kale in the fridge so I substituted spinach.  If you don't have turkey broth or chicken broth on hand, you could use bullion cubes instead.  And use whatever kind of oil you like... olive or even coconut would be good, I should think.  And I added onions... 

The Captain is always so helpful when I ask him to pare and cut a butternut squash for me.  And he scooped the seeds and soft flesh from the cavity and then cut the half I used into half-inch cubes as well.  Sometimes I am just not strong enough to cut through the tough shell of these Winter squashes so it is great that he can help me with that.

I got out my soup pot and got started!  I am calling my creation Winter Soup and it goes like this:



Winter Soup
Makes 6 servings.

• 1 tsp vegetable oil (I used a canol/olive oil blend)
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and minced
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped. about 8 ounces
• 1/2 butternut squash, about 20 ounces
• 4 cups turkey broth
• dashes of cumin, cinnamon, and salt
• 1 cup fresh spinach leaves

1. Gently heat the oil in a large stock pot and cook the onion till translucent, about 7 or 8 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and squash and cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Sprinkle seasonings over the veggies and stir in.
4. Add the stock, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and allow to simmer, covered for 40 minutes.
5. To serve, ladle the hot soup into a bowl and toss in a few spinach leaves on the top and stir them in to wilt.

Per serving.
Weight Watchers P+ = 2.
Calories 79; Protein 4g; Carbohydrate 16g; Fat 1g; Fibre 3g.

I didn't put the spinach into the soup pot because I thought it would get too wilted and break up, but if I were using kale, I would put it into the soup pot for the last 10 - 15 minutes of the simmering process.

Simmering in the soup pot.



Hot soup ladled into a bowl.

 

 

With a bit of spinach tossed in.

 

 

We had this as the main focus of our lunch on Sunday, and we were both quite hungry as we had just come in, stretched, and cooled down, after a 5 km run.  Lunch needed to happen before showers even!  So I added 2 ounces of cooked chicken breast to each bowl, too, before I served it.  For another couple of P+ it was a great way to get in some tasty protein and make the meal more complete.



 

With cooked chicken breast added to the bowl.

 

Delicious and very filling.

 

  



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