Soups On Saturday! Seasonal Soups

Sorry. I meant to post earlier. I had it mostly ready. But then I went to the Women of Faith Conference which I go to every year. But I have never been here at the same time as a bomb . At least that is what we thought it was. I will certainly tell you more about that later.


So anyway, I did make soup this week before I almost died. And it was delicious. I am not one who usually prefers a smooth soup, except as a base, so I was leery of this recipe but I decided to try it anyway. Mostly because I had the ingredients I needed from my CSA share this week.


The combo of squash and pears is not one I would have thought of, but it sure works. Curry is a spice I love, so I was pretty sure, if the other flavors didn't suit me, that would cover it up. But I did not have to count on the curry, it was great by itself. Even some of my unbelieving kids liked it --- much to their chagrin.

Curried Butternut Squash and Pear Soup

I linked the original recipe in the title because I definitely want to give credit where credit is due. But, as usual, I outlined my own way of doing it below.

1 Danish squash, cut in half, scooped out, placed on oiled baking sheet and baked at 375 degrees until soft (30 minutes for me).

While that is baking, put 4 T. butter, olive oil or coconut oil, 1 + chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic, 2 t fresh grated ginger, 1 T curry powder in pan and cook until onions are tender. The recipe also calls for 1 t. salt, but I prefer to have each person add that to taste, and I use sea salt.

Then add 4 cups chicken broth, and 2 diced pears (personally, I like some chunks in my soup, so after I added the broth, I removed about half of the onions to add back after I puree the rest) The original recipe says to peel and core the pears. But I have a Vita-Mix and knew I was going to be pureeing it, so I just took the stems and ends off and cut up the rest into cubes then threw them in.

As soon as the squash is done cooking, scoop it out and throw that in the pot too, at whatever stage the rest of the soup is now at. Then puree it, about half of the blender at a time, and put it back in the pan (now is when I added the reserved onions back).

Now you have a decision to make. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup half and half. I use farm fresh milk with cream and it is always a gamble how much is cream and how much is milk. I figure it all works out eventually. I gotta say, this soup is very fallish and very flavorful without the milk added. So if you are trying to lose weight, you might want to eat it just like this.

For Weight Watchers points, this way would use far less points. I also would adjust to use olive oil (or, because of the curry and pears, I think coconut oil would be nice), rather than butter and cut the amount way down. Veggies are all 0 points, so all that has to be counted are the oil, pear (fruit is pretty low points) and milk or cream.

The original recipe gives a link to Frizzled Onions to serve on top. I used Durkee Fried Onions to try it, and it was pretty good. But then I decided to try it with these not-so-bad boys


and I liked it even better for a healthier, not fried option. Even though it looks like popcorn in the picture at the top where I added both. I like the crunch and texture each of them added.

I served it with crusty sourdough bread because that is what I had. However, it was not a wonderful match. I would recommend a sweet yeast bread. Cuz dipping bread in to sop up your soup is very comforting and fallish.

Did you make a seasonal soup this week? Do you have a favorite seasonal soup? Please send me your recipe or post it to your blog and link here. I'd love to see more of them. Cuz I have access to some fall veggies and I want to find creative ways to use them.

Here are also some seasonal soups from this time last year:

Apple Butternut Squash Soup

Autumn Harvest Soup

Happy Fall Squash Soup

Hot and Sour Cabbage Soup (I think I will be making this this week as I have quite a bit of cabbage)

I have a friend whose extended family has a "Welcome Fall" party every year. And they make a roasted veggie soup. She knows who she is and I sure hope she will send me the link. Cuz she gave it to me last year and I can't find it. And it is fallish and I want to make it. Thanks Friend.

~NEXT WEEK'S theme is PUMPKINS EVERYWHERE~

Cuz you know they are.

Already.

Everywhere.

And we need (other) ways to use them up.

So please experiment, invent, concoct, create or just follow a soup or chili recipe using pumpkin in some way and share it with the rest of us. Or me anyway.

Have a wonderful, fallish week! And be thankful you are alive -- and I am too:)

P.S. If anyone comments that they have a recipe to link, I will put the Mr. Linky down here so you can link it.