This week I wanted to do something a little different. I don’t usually just post a recipe, but I’ve had people ask me to start including recipes in this blog. I love a good soup, especially in the fall. At this time of year, I feel myself moving away from salads and automatically wanting to eat warm yummy soup. This recipe was a find – I got it on Pinterest courtesy of Ali Ebright from Gimme Some Oven. It’s a delicious recipe, and one that went over well with both my honey and the kids. Actually, he came home asking specifically to have it for dinner. And this man is nowhere near a vegan!
So, I do like to cook, but even though I believe strongly in cooking and eating whole foods, sometimes I feel a little lazy. A slow cooker meal seems like a perfect way to have dinner waiting at the end of a long day, right? The problem is, many of the recipes I’ve tried in the slow cooker turn out to be just so-so. A pot of mush. All my flavors mashed up in a soupy mix. This technique does have an upside though: the slow cooker can make some great soups! And this is one of them. It’s a warm, nourishing hug in a bowl. It also falls in the category of clean eating, for those who want to incorporate more vegetables and spices and avoid meat, dairy, gluten and additives. This recipe has a little kick too, so if you don’t like spice at all, dial down or eliminate the cayenne. You can add more to taste though. I did – we like spicy in this house!
So here it is. I doubled the recipe because I thought we needed a lot. This probably wasn’t the best idea, because it almost didn’t fit in my slow cooker. So next time, I will stick with my rule of trying a recipe as written the first time. The proportions listed below are a single recipe, which is plenty for a family dinner. We’ve got some in the freezer!
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups vegetable stock
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced (I used two because my squash was small)
- 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and diced
- 1 medium (uncooked) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
- 1 sprig fresh sage (I used two springs)
- 1 white onion, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper, or more to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne, or more to taste
- pinch of ground cinnamon and nutmeg (I grated fresh nutmeg – so good!)
- 1/2 cup canned (unsweetened) coconut milk
- optional garnishes: extra coconut milk and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper (or smoked paprika)
I cut up all the veggies the night before to assemble in the morning.
I put the spices in the slow cooker the night before as well.
This is after I put everything in the slow cooker in the morning (except the coconut milk) and cooked on low for 8 hours.
Then I realized the bag had to be removed before I could use the hand blender, so too bad for the easy clean up! I took out the sage and threw it away.
I blended it up in the pot and added the coconut milk.
This is after the coconut milk and extra salt and pepper were added. Smooth and creamy!
This is the soup with the cream garnish and some plantain chips (because I like a little crunch on top!). Delicious!
What’s your favorite soup recipe? Do you have a tried-and-true slow cooker meal? Let me know in the comments section!