Curried Coconut Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

I love to make soups in the Winter.  The aroma of garlic and onions fills the kitchen with the promise of homemade with love goodness!  I love the rich golden color and the silky texture.  And there are so many lovely local squashes in our local produce markets at this time of year that I want to sample them all.

In getting ready to start a 30 Day Paleo Challenge on January 1st I decided to make up a lovely spicy, nutritious soup, to have on hand for lunches and snacks.  I know that preparing for this challenge is going to be very important to my success on it. 

Normally I like to put a spoonful of fat free yogurt on my vegetable soups when I serve them... stirring the yogurt into the hot soup makes it creamy and rich.  But there is no dairy on the Paleo plan so I decided to use some coconut milk in this soup to take the place of the yogurt (I used a light version - after all I am still a Weight Watcher) and followed that theme by using coconut oil instead of the olive olive I would usually use, too. 

And I have to say, the coconut oil smells wonderful while it cooks.  Mouthwatering, actually!  I will be using it a lot more often.

I prefer to use my homemade turkey stock in recipes like this, but if you don't have turkey or chicken stock on hand, use a couple of bullion cubes and 4 cups of water.  It really does result in a richer flavor than water alone... or use vegetable bullion if you want a vegan soup.



Curried Coconut Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup
Makes 6 servings of 1-1/2 cups each.

• 1 Tbs coconut oil/butter
• 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped (8 ounces)
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and minced
• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (26 ounces)
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 4 cups turkey stock
• 1 Tbs ground cumin
• 1/2 cup canned light coconut milk
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Place the coconut oil/butter in a large stock pot over MEDIUM heat.
2. Add the chopped onion and minced garlic and saute till translucent, about 6 or 7  minutes.
3. Add the butternut squash and the carrot pieces and cook another 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the ground cumin to coat the veggies.
5. Add the stock to the pot, cover with a lid and bring to a boil.
6. Lower the heat and leave the soup to simmer for 40 minutes.
7. Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 15 minutes
8. Purree the soup with your immersion blender or remove to blender jar in batches to purree.
9. Stir in coconut milk and gently reheat before serving.
10. Season with salt and pepper at the table.

At first I wasn't sure if I had added enough cumin to my soup because it didn't seem to be quite as spicy as I would have liked.  But, I resisted adding more, and I placed the cooled soup in 6 different single serving containers and then refrigerated them.  The next day, I heated up 2 servings for The Captain and I to enjoy for lunch, and I noticed that the soup tasted much spicier than it had the day before... guess the cumin just needed a bit of time to do its magic!

It was wonderful!  The rest of the leftovers have been moved to the freezer for now, but it won't be long before they are used up and I will be making another batch!

Per serving.
Weight Watchers P+ = 3.
Calories 119 ; Protein 2g; Carbohydrate 22g; Fat 4g; Fibre 4g.

Add the cumin to the sauteed veggies...

 

and stir to coat them and let it cook a bit before adding the broth.

 

Cover and bring to boil, then let simmer for about 40 minutes.

 

Gently reheat before serving.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

Printable Recipe

 

 

Are you a homemade soup fan?  What is your favorite kind?

 

Do you like coconut oil?