Butternut Squash Soup / Plant Based & Vegan Friendly!

I almost missed this soup recipe in the new Eat To Live cookbook because it’s in the breakfast section! It’s on the sweet side of things so I guess someone thought it could be for breakfast – probably not in my house, but I can tell you that it’s wonderful for lunch. One of my favorite winter meals is a hot bowl of soup and a sandwich. Easy but filling and satisfying.

This is another soup recipe that uses carrot juice as a base and the flavor builds from there. Use sweet delicious butternut squash fresh or frozen. I used one tart and one sweet apple and a little onion for a savory component. A little cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg adds that comfort flavor we all enjoy this time of year. Although this recipe doesn’t call for pureeing all of the soup I do thinks its one of those soups that would be awesome completely blended until smooth and then served piping hot in mugs to your guests. No spoon required and they could sip it while dinner is being assembled. Garnished with pumpkin seeds – it’s so pretty!

 I found a pomegranate balsamic vinegar that was perfect for this dish and just a couple tablespoons gives it a flavor boost. This was purchased at Whole Foods.

Butternut Squash Soup

• 4 cups frozen or fresh butternut squash, cubed – the smaller pieces will cook quicker
• 2 medium apples, peeled, cored and chopped – I used one tart and one sweet apple
• 4 cups kale, stems removed, finely chopped
• 1 cup yellow onions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons Pomegranate Balsamic vinegar or another fruit flavored vinegar
• 5 cups carrot juice
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1/4 cup hemp seeds
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• pumpkin seeds – optional garnish

In a large dutch oven or soup pot combine squash, apples, kale onion, vinegar and carrot juice, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, cover pot with lid and simmer for 30 minutes or until kale is tender.

Using a high powered blender or a food processor puree half of the soup mixture with the cashews and hemp seeds. Return pureed soup to the pot adding the cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Garnish with pumpkin seeds if desired.

Note: If you want to serve this in mugs to sip – blend all of the soup until it’s creamy smooth.

Yield: 6 Servings as a meal or 12 smaller appetizer size servings

Nutritional Information

Per 6 main dish servings: 260 Calories, 8 g Protein, 6.6 g Fat, 49 g Carbohydrates, 96 mg Sodium, 6.7 g Fiber

Recipe adapted from Eat To Live Cookbook

This recipe is featured on Healthy Vegan Friday

Nutmeg Notes

I am looking forward to hosting our little family together on Thursday. It’s difficult to get everyone together these days because of work and school schedules. We will be making some chicken for the meat eaters and the rest of the meal will fit into our plant based lifestyle. It’s actually pretty easy to do this for Thanksgiving since most of the traditional side dishes are based around fresh produce.

We will be trying the green bean casserole from Fat Free Vegan’s blog. A vegan version of our family favorite sweet potato casserole,  and mashed garlic potatoes, and of course cranberry chutney. 

It’s easy enough to swap non dairy products and use other vegan swaps for ingredients where needed. For dessert I might make the pumpkin pie with almond pie crust from the new Eat To Live cookbook. Dr Fuhrman was kind enough to share it on his facebook page this week for those of you who don’t have this cookbook and I also linked to it on my facebook page.

For an easy yet festive vegan entree I opted to go with the Field Roast holiday loaf purchased from Whole Foods. I will review it after Thursday and let you all know how it is!

I have seen so many stores here advertise that they will be opening at 8:00 PM on Thanksgiving Day for shoppers to get a jump on black Friday. I won’t be shopping but I do know some folks who will be!

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate it and for my friends outside of the US – have a great day!

Tami

Whats on your menu for Thanksgiving Day?

Will you be shopping on Thanksgiving Day?