Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Acorn Squash and Apple Soup

One of my biggest knocks on Austin is the lack of seasons. There's a temperature change, sure- I'm actually sitting in a sweatshirt right now. But there is no beautiful display of jewel colored leaves, no snow days to pull a sled through, and no lush springs with English-style gardens. There is summer, and then there is some cold.

My recent yearning for autumn has led me to do two things:

1. Stay up to ungodly hours due to an intensive home search in Asheville, NC, where fall reigns glorious in the mountains. I even felt it necessary to poke Peyton in the ribs at three a.m. to announce our impending move. I've got some house contenders, so now it's on to finding the mister a job!

2. Make fall soup. I had this delicious soup in Baltimore from a recipe clipping that my mom has had for the past few decades, and decided to recreate it here. It's so simple to make yet has complex flavors and is good for you to boot. So what if we don't have leave piles to jump in or cool air to bundle up in? We have acorn squash soup! And until we pack the moving vans, that will just have to do. 

Here is my version of this super easy recipe, good for anyone looking to add some fall to their kitchen.


Ingredients
1 acorn squash
1 onion
1-2 green (or tart) apples
~1/4 cup margarine
3 cups vegetable broth
cumin
curry powder
nutmeg
salt
pepper


1. Cut squash into quarters or eighths. Scoop out seeds and place face down in 2 cups of broth. Simmer, covered, until soft, roughly 20-30 minutes. (I cooked it and left it for a few hours longer, so it was super soft. Was just as yummy!)


2. Slice onion and apple and saute in margarine until browned and aromatic and delicious looking, roughly 10 minutes. 

This is at the beginning, not the final browned stage.
3. Scoop the squash from the skin into blender and blend well with the broth. Return to pot.

4. Blend the apple and onion mixture with remaining 1 cup of broth, then combine in pot with squash. 

5. Add spices, salt, and pepper to taste. (I used more cumin, salt, and pepper with just a touch of the nutmeg and curry. You can switch it up as you feel, or use other spices all together.)


And you're done! We topped our with cashews add a bit of salty crunch. I think that some sweet chutney or coconut flakes would also be interesting, or a nice cranberry sauce swirled in to make it even more fall festive. 


Enjoy!


LIVE THE MURRAYED LIFE

11 comments:

  1. This is so interesting! I've never had a soup like this, but now I really want to try!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should! It's so perfect for this time of year, usually pretty inexpensive because it's in season, healthy, easy, and yummy. Let me know what you think if you do!

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  2. I love the change of seasons, which for me = change of menu. I get tired easily of the same dinners over and over.

    Two weeks ago I made a butternut squash and apple soup....it was ok, but I felt it was lacking some seasoning and could be improved upon. I will have to try this version with acorn squash next time. We love cashews; will have to try that as a topping this time. Did you serve this with anything else, or just the soup?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Where do you live? What's funny in Austin is that it seems greener and more spring like now. Beautiful, but almost taunting and in your face!

      Let me know what you think if you try! I love butternut squash and it's my normal go-to, but this acorn was delicious. I also heard someone say they made something similar with sage. I might try that next time to switch it up. We just had it with toast and broccoli, since I am not the best planner when it comes to full meals :). If you try and serve it with something that you think pairs well I'd love to know!

      Delete
  3. I'm glad that I read you are vegan before I suggested serving it up with a pork roast or something like that! When I made the butternut squash and apple soup we paired it with mixed greens, goat cheese, craisins, toasted pecans, and balsamic. It was good together, but I have a big appetite so it just wasn't enough!

    I assume you have an immersion blender to make the soup? If so, I'm looking for more recipes that use it....I mostly use it for baby foods right now.

    Oh, and I mentioned in another comment that we are in Illinois, about 25 minutes west of Chicago.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That sounds like an awesome salad, and some meat on the side would definitely make it a bit more substantial. :) Grains fill me up pretty well, that's why I'm a toast lover. We get sprouted grain bread which is super hearty and delicious and healthy.

      We use a ninja blender which we basically use for all blending and processing, but an immersion blender sounds so much more convenient. Do you like it? I've been trying to justify getting one, so maybe upcoming baby food is the way!

      So you get plenty of fall and cold weather there don't you?? I've never been to Chicago but it's definitely on my list. By the way, did you know you're a no reply blogger? I tried to just respond to you by email since I keep writing novels, but your email addy doesn't come up. You can google how to change this (it's a really easy setting on google profiles) if you want to make it possible for people to just email you directly when they get your comments. And maybe for other reasons? Someone just told me the other day that I was and I (think) I changed it. :)

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