Butternut Squash Apple Curry Soup

I made this soup a lot last year while working at a restaurant in Toronto, since it was a fairly new place, I was given way to make up my own recipes, and this one was served as one of their daily soups!

I've made butternut squash soup before but never considered adding apples! This one is a more curry-ish, spicy soup as opposed to your traditional butternut squash with ginger and warmer spices.

It's super easy to make especially if you steam your squash and sweet potatoes ahead of time. It probably takes 20 or so minutes. Perfect for a fall day!

4 heaping cups of peeled + cubed butternut squash
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled + cubed
2 large green apples, peeled + cubed
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp chili flakes
2 tsp cumin
Squeeze of lime (may not need if apples are already sour)
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Handful of cilantro, chopped

Cube up butternut squash and sweet potato, steam until soft and tender (you could do this ahead of time for sure) or you could use already made puree (fresh just gives it a nice, lighter flavour). Heat up some olive oil on medium in a large pot, add onion, garlic, celery, until onions begin to turn translucent, add spices and 1 tsp salt, cook 1 more minute. Then add cubed apples, cook 5 more minutes (may need to add more oil). Add 2 cups of water, turn heat up to a boil, boil for a minute. Once boiling, add cooked squash and sweet potato, lower eat to simmer. Add olive oil. Next puree with an immersion blender, really well! At least 5 minutes. Juice in 1 lime add salt and pepper to taste and add in chopped cilantro, give it another minute with the blender and...that's it!

This soup has a nice brightness from the apples and cilantro, and the curry/chili goes really well with the butternut and sweet potato!

Makes about 6 servings

Raw Green Soup (Vegan, GF)

Jenn and I were whizzing through our posts the other day and realize that we post alot of purees! haha We laughed about that fact for a good 4 minutes, it's true pretty much every second thing we do is a puree of some sort. Lol. Oh well might as well continue the trend. I'm (Jac) kinda on an anti-sugar kick, and you know what, I feel much better not having sugar cravings. Seriously if you can make it past one day without sugar you will GREATLY reduce your cravings. So while I love my fruity green smoothies I must sub all my meals now with something savoury. Cue the green soup! These types of soups are easily digestible, highly alkaline and delicious! This soup is for those who love greens, if you don't, you probably will not enjoy this as much.

1 small avocado
2 handfuls of greens of your choice (I used half arugula, half spinach)
Squeeze of lemon or lime
1 scallion, chopped
1 small clove of garlic
Water, to thin
1 tsp dill, or other herb of choice (cumin would be good as well)
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1 tsp psyllium husk (optional, will make extra thick)

Add all ingredients into a blender, blend until combined and smooth. Adjust or add flavourings/seasonings as needed. Makes 1 large serving.

Curried Split Pea Soup w/ Raw Onion Croutons (Vegan, GF)

What to do with the yellow split pea? I picked up a bag of these dried peas a few days ago and was literally lost as to what to do with them. The trend seems to be soup, I actually tried to eat these un-souped mixed in with rice and I almost choked to death on one! So that was an obvious sign that I should put these in soup. This soup is rather mild so if you like spice add more in. The croutons are made from the onion bread that we made for the raw tea sandwiches just cut into smaller pieces.

2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 tsp grated ginger
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cracked fennel seeds
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup yellow split peas, rinsed
6 cups vegetable stock or water
1 tsp turmeric

Heat olive oil in a large pot, add onions, saute until tender and soft. Add in garlic, ginger, curry powder, garam masala, cumin, coriander and fennel seeds. Saute for another minute. Add in split peas, water and turmeric. Bring to a boil, then lower and simmer for an hour or until split peas are tender. Blend until smooth.  Serve with raw onion croutons and a dash of paprika on top.

Raw Carrot-Ginger Soup w/ Cilantro Drizzle (Vegan, GF)

I don't know about any of you guys, but my body has been screaming for a detox. Probably because each year in the past, around this time, my mom and sisters along with myself would do a detox together for a week or so. Once I lasted a whole month! And lived to tell the tale, obviously :) I don't really enjoy detoxing but coming up with fun edible items such as this soup makes me more excited to actually follow through with it. This soup is super easy to digest and contains ginger which is also good for digestive health, or so I hear...The drizzle just adds a certain"je ne sais quoi" to a seemingly "boring" soup base. I must add: this was made with a magic bullet, so don't worry if you don't have a vitamix/blendtec.

4 medium carrots
1 1/2 spring onions
good chunk of ginger, however much you can handle
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup water
2 tsp miso paste
1/2 an avocado (optional)
Pinch of sea salt, to taste


Drizzle:
4 tbsp olive oil
cilantro
Pinch of salt


Assemble all soup ingredients into blender. Blend for a few minutes until desired consistency reached. Add additional salt, ginger, lemon to taste. Assemble drizzle ingredients in blender, blend. Drizzle into soup. Makes 2 servings.


Along with soup, you gotta have salad!
This is a salad I made, dressed with Foods Alive Dressings:

Sweet and Sassy, Mike's Special

What I had in the fridge: spinach, apple, green onion, red onion, almonds

Thai Peanut Soup (Vegan, GF)

I know, weird right, peanut butter in soup!? So weird but so good, you guys will just have to trust me on this one, it took me a while to convince Jenn, she regrets being so resistant...because of the sheer yumminess of this soup! If you're still weirded out think about this: peanuts are actually legumes not nuts, where are legumes found? why in soup of course! I found this recipe on about.com, it was rated 5 stars so that was convincing enough for me to make it. The original recipe has an option to add chickpeas, if you'd like a really hearty soup, go ahead and add them in, but seriously it is sooo filling as is. It's crazy addicting too so watch out, I had some for breakfast this morning :P.

Tastes like pad thai, extra peanuts :)

1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, diced
1 carrot, sliced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne
4 tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 cups diced tomatoes
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup vegetable broth
juice from 3 limes
1 tsp salt
cilantro, chopped
dry roasted peanuts, unsalted, chopped

In a large pot, cook onions, peppers and garlic until tender (5 minutes). Add all other ingredients except cilantro and peanuts. Simmer until cooked through. Top with cilantro and chopped peanuts. Makes 5-6 servings.

Smoky Squash and Red Pepper Soup (Vegan, GF)

I miss old smoky! I have loved smoked salmon on bagels for as long as I can remember. Now I'm always striving for that ever sweet smoky flavour in my vegan cooking. This soup is delicieux! Cumin lends to squash very well and it is what gives this soup the "smokiness" factor. I wonder if putting a dash of mesquite (liquid smoke) would make it even smokier, I put it on the ingredient list as an option, I haven't tried it, but you are welcome to give it a try. My favourite part of this soup is that it's the best orange colour ever! The pictures don't do it justice seriously!

4 acorn squash, roasted OR 1 butternut squash, roasted
2 red peppers, roasted
1 can light coconut milk
6 cups vegetable stock
2 cooking onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic
3/4 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp tarragon
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes
1/4 tsp coriander
Salt and pepper, to taste
Squeeze of lemon juice, to taste
dash of mesquite (optional)


Start by cooking the onions in olive oil until translucent in a large soup pot. Add garlic, saute for a minute. Add red pepper flakes, coriander, and cumin. Saute for another minute. Add squash, red pepper, and vegetable stock, simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add coconut milk, tarragon, salt and pepper. Keep simmering for 10 more minutes. Squeeze in lemon juice. Add mesquite if desired. Blend in blender or with a hand blender (way easier!). Makes one large pot of soup.

Squash-tacular!