Hearty Nourishment

Winter reminds us to go inward, to reflect on our year, to rest more and seek out warming activities and deep nourishment.

Here’s a delicious squash & red lentil soup with complex flavors and plenty of vegan nourishment.

Warming Squash Soup

Here’s what you’ll need:

Stock pot or Dutch oven

2-3 lb butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cut into med sized cubes or wedges (this soup is blended, so no worries if your cubes are odd shaped)

2 yellow onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 & 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 & 1/2 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup red lentils

1 cup vegetable stock (I use 1 1/2 Tbls better than Bullion and 1 cup hot water)

4 cups water

olive oil

juice of 1 lemon

salt & fresh ground pepper

-Preheat oven to 400

Toss the chopped squash with a light coating of olive oil, mix to coat, then pop on a parchment paper lined baking sheet , spread out evenly, and roast until soft (about 15-25 minutes until you can glide a fork into a piece)

Drizzle olive oil to coat your stockpot and add the chopped onions. Cook them on med heat, stirring frequently until translucent, then add the garlic and cook for another 5 or so mins. Turn off the heat

Set the kettle on and heat the 4 cups of water.

Place a small pan on the stove to toast the seeds until they let off their aroma, then place in a spice grinder or mortar & pestle. (well ground-to nearly a powder)

Add the spices, cinnamon and lentils to the stockpot and stir well.  Add the stock, lemon juice and salt (sea salt or kosher flake salt) and ground pepper and  heated water.

Turn back on the heat, put the lid on and cook for about 10 mins on simmer

Once lentils are soft, add the cooked squash and blend the soup with a handheld emulsifier or place in blender.

If the soup is too thick for your preference, simply add more hot water.

I love croutons and fresh herbs. If you do too, feel free to top your soup with chopped parsley and/or cilantro.

For the croutons, use a loaf of sourdough bread.  Cut into cubes and toss to coat the bread with  generous drizzles of olive oil and healthy sprinkles of za’atar in a large bowl.

Keeping the oven at 400, pop the bread on parchment lined baking sheet, spread evenly, and bake for between 10-15 mins, until crunchy. So yummy!