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| Spicy Creamy Squash Soup |
With winter slowly creeping upon us, its that time of the year where we want comforting warm foods. Nothing can be more comforting and warming than a nice bowl of soup. You don't have to buy canned soups with all of the preservatives, sugars, salts and GMO's. You can make your own healthy soup from fresh fruits and veggies.
For those of us who prefer our veggies raw, one might think we don't get the luxury of warm foods. This recipe is to prove that thought wrong! You can still eat raw and have warm foods like soup. If you turn your Vitamix blender on high it automatically warms up the food for you. The difference is, it doesn't heat it past 115 degrees, so you still get all of the wonderful nutrients in your veggies, even when making soups.
I chose to make a squash soup because I really wanted a "creamy" soup that was rich in flavor. Since I hadn't had squash in a while and because its "in season" (meaning its in abundance and on sale), it was the winner for the soup recipe. I got this squash for $1.00. So basically this entire meal is about $1.50 if you include the spices added in...and I think I'm probably guesstimating $.40 cents over.
Because it has seeds, butternut squash is technically a fruit; Therefore, it has a sweet undertoned taste, that really kicks the spices up a knotch for this recipe. Not to mention the nutritional and health benefits of this fruit is amazing. It's rich in phytonutrients and antioxidants. It's low in fat and provides dietary fiber, thus making it heart healthy. It provides a good amount of potassium, which we all need for bone health. The greatest thing about this fruit to me, is that it has a good amount of B6. As we know the "complex" B-Vitamins are essential for the proper functioning of both the nervous and immune systems. Can you believe I got all of that for a $1.00? Who said going raw was expensive? *smile*
Anyway...enough of my rambling on...I know you want the recipe now...so here it is...
INGREDIENTS
For those of us who prefer our veggies raw, one might think we don't get the luxury of warm foods. This recipe is to prove that thought wrong! You can still eat raw and have warm foods like soup. If you turn your Vitamix blender on high it automatically warms up the food for you. The difference is, it doesn't heat it past 115 degrees, so you still get all of the wonderful nutrients in your veggies, even when making soups.
I chose to make a squash soup because I really wanted a "creamy" soup that was rich in flavor. Since I hadn't had squash in a while and because its "in season" (meaning its in abundance and on sale), it was the winner for the soup recipe. I got this squash for $1.00. So basically this entire meal is about $1.50 if you include the spices added in...and I think I'm probably guesstimating $.40 cents over.
Because it has seeds, butternut squash is technically a fruit; Therefore, it has a sweet undertoned taste, that really kicks the spices up a knotch for this recipe. Not to mention the nutritional and health benefits of this fruit is amazing. It's rich in phytonutrients and antioxidants. It's low in fat and provides dietary fiber, thus making it heart healthy. It provides a good amount of potassium, which we all need for bone health. The greatest thing about this fruit to me, is that it has a good amount of B6. As we know the "complex" B-Vitamins are essential for the proper functioning of both the nervous and immune systems. Can you believe I got all of that for a $1.00? Who said going raw was expensive? *smile*
Anyway...enough of my rambling on...I know you want the recipe now...so here it is...
INGREDIENTS
1 large butternut squash
2-3 cups water
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 large garlic cloves
2 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp curry
2 tbsp onion powder (or dried onion flakes)
1 tbsp braggs liquid aminos
1 tbsp parsely
1 tbsp coconut oil
3 tbsp hemp powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp black pepper (optional)
1 tsp sea salt
Please Note: This soup is spicy. If you don't like spicy food, you can always omit the black pepper and cut the cayenne in half or even just add a pinch. You can always add more if you need it...but you can never take it out once its in there.
MAKING THE SOUP
Peel the squash with a potato peeler. Chop it into pieces. I didn't remove the seeds from mine, but feel free to do so if you wish. Put it in the Vitamix Blender. Add the Water. Blend...begin blending it on low and gradually turn it up to high so that you can puree all of the squash and liquify it. Once its liquified, put all of the remaining ingredients in. Blend on high for about 5-10 mins. Be sure to stop intermittently and push all of the spices down so that its thoroughly mixed throughout.
Notice while blending in the Vitamix on high that it warmed your soup for you? No stove necessary! You now have soup! Pour some in your serving bowl and eat!
This recipe should be about 4-6 servings (or more)...depending on the size of the servings and the size of the squash you used. My Vitamix was filled to the 64oz capacity. This soup lasted me a week! Lunch for a week and for $1.00. Really, you can't beat that! It took me about 10 minutes (if that) to make this meal.
TIP:
(a) Storage options: Get some glass jars and fill them with this. You can easily fill 5 of them and you now have your lunch ready to go and for the entire week!
(b) You can freeze some of this soup and have it handy for those days when you just don't feel like doing anything.
(c) This soup is so creamy, it makes a great sauce for zucchini pasta.
TIP:
(a) Storage options: Get some glass jars and fill them with this. You can easily fill 5 of them and you now have your lunch ready to go and for the entire week!
(b) You can freeze some of this soup and have it handy for those days when you just don't feel like doing anything.
(c) This soup is so creamy, it makes a great sauce for zucchini pasta.
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| Spicy Creamy Squash Soup |
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Related Posts:
Genetically Modified Organisms ("GMO") Facts
Benefits of Coconut Oil
8 Ancient Superfoods That Promote Good Health
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Related Posts:
Genetically Modified Organisms ("GMO") Facts
Benefits of Coconut Oil
8 Ancient Superfoods That Promote Good Health
----------------
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