Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Curried Butternut Squash Soup: An Easy Vegan Lunch!

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
If you read my blog, you would know that my story with soup in general had a rocky start. I did not believe in soup! Gasp! But just as in any romantic story with happy ending, I learned to love all soups and especially when it comes to lunch. I talk about it here, in my post about Low Fat Chicken Soup. Curried butternut squash soup is a delicious low fat flavorful vegan lunch that could be a great option this Lent season. Being a stay home mom leaves little time for me to plan my meals, let alone any time to cook lunch, hence this soup is the best option. Just heat it and lunch is ready. To keep my metabolism going, I try to eat something every 2-3 hours. So I start with this soup at noon after I pick up my daughter from preschool and in 2-3 hours I make a light sandwich then a Ayran drink, a low fat minty refreshing low fat protein packed drink. Click here, for recipe. 

In my previous post, I showed you in details how to prepare and roast butternut squash. Click here to read about it.

Ingredients:
1 medium size butternut Squash (about 6 cups)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup of celery, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 tablespoon of pepper paste
2 tablespoons of curry powder
6 cups of water
1/3 cup of light coconut milk
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, ground

Instructions:
Roasted Butternut Squash
In a pot on medium heat, add chopped onions and celery. You don't really need to finely chop them because they will smoothed out using an immersion blender. Once nicely browned, add the garlic and cook until fragrant. 
Add the roasted butternut squash, mix until combined with the sautéed onion, celery and garlic.
Add 2 tablespoons of curry powder to just plain turmeric, salt and pepper to taste. Also add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and one tablespoon of pepper paste. If you don't have pepper paste, you can simply skip it.
Add 6 cups of water. You can substitute the water with chicken broth but I like to have more vegetarian dishes these days. The last time I ate red meat was two months ago and honestly I don't miss it...yet!
Once the soup comes to a boil, smooth it out using an immersion blender or a regular blender. Add 1/3 cup of light coconut milk. It adds a nice creamy texture and exotic flavor that goes well with the curry powder. Bring it to a gentle boil and it is ready. 


I am also starting a new thing, I am adding the nutritional information of low fat low sugar healthy food to entice you to give them a try. Here is the Curried Butternut Squash Soup Nutrition facts:
Curried Butternut Squash Soup:Nutrition Facts
Enjoy!
Nadine

To read about how to prepare Butternut Squash, click here
To read about Low Fat Chicken Vegetable Soup, click here
To about Making Ayran, click here
To read about Making your own Yogurt, the basis of Ayran, click here
Information facts are generated using Livestrong.com 



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