Curry Squash Soup

Note from Sara: This week our recipe comes from Devon. We went to high school together way back in the day (we're not discussing how long ago that was), and we've reconnected via Facebook and the likes.  I've recently been reading about pressure cookers, so when she emailed me this writeup, I got very excited... Someone to tell me all about using a pressure cooker!  And with photos!!  Thanks so much for the yummy recipe, Devon!  I'm now researching hand mixers and pressure cookers for my Christmas list :)




Devon's Curry Squash Soup 

I've been sickly for about a week. I'm on the verge of feeling better, but still coughing and have a lingering sore throat, so I decided that today would be a good time to load up on my veggies and make a creamy healthy soup that I could easily bring to work with me tomorrow for lunch. I love all veggies, but I particularly love it when hard vegetables are turned smooth. Pureeing is a good way to make veggies taste rich, and this recipe I mixed up is extra creamy due to the coconut milk. Cooking the carrots and squash together in the pot with the stock releases a little extra starchiness that makes the soup a little creamier in texture. The spices aren't overwhelming, and it would be great vegan as well if you used a vegetable stock. Easy peasy and heavy on all sorts of healing properties!

I am using a pressure cooker for this soup, but it could also be cooked in a large pot on the stove. If you're cooking on the stove top, you can simmer all of the ingredients slowly and I'm sure it would be just as tasty, but it will be more time consuming as you'll need to check and stir it frequently. If you're a fan of soups, stews, rice dishes, or any sort of slow cooked dish and want to cook them quickly, I'd suggest an electric pressure cooker. Pressure cookers are helpful as they provide an easy way to make dishes with no checking and in a really quick time frame. It's perfect if you want to make something else at the same time, as it won't take up any oven or burner space. Or you can walk away and watch some Boardwalk Empire. Not that that's what I'm doing right now. ;)


Devon's Curry Squash Soup

2 sweet onions
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 of a ginger root (adjust to taste-I like a lot of ginger)
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 butternut squash, chopped in small, even pieces
4 carrots, chopped in small, even pieces
1 can (14 ounces) of coconut milk
2 cans (or 28 ounces) of your choice of stock. (I used low sodium chicken stock.)
1 tsp of curry powder
1/2 tsp ground cardamon
1/2 tsp ground pepper
pinch of salt

Roughly chop your onions, ginger root, and leave your garlic as whole, peeled cloves. Toss all three ingredients into your pressure cooker (on high) with your olive oil and cook to bring out the flavors for a few minutes. You'll want the ingredients to brown slightly, but just make sure they don't burn. Turn off your pressure cooker for the moment as you're going to add the remaining items. Toss in the chopped squash, carrots, coconut milk, and stock. Stir in the spices and cook until the squash and carrots are soft and mushy. For me, I am cooking this in the electric pressure cooker, and I set it for about 20 minutes on high.

Once the soup is done cooking, release the steam and check to make sure everything is soft. If it's all soft, puree it all together. If it isn't soft for any reason, cook until it is. Pureeing will be easier and less work if you have a hand mixer. Hand mixers are about $30 for a decent one and a sound investment if you enjoy making homemade soups. A blender will work fine as well, but will be more work as you're need to let the soup cool enough to handle it to avoid cooking accidents and transfer it to the blender and then the serving bowl. With a hand mixer, you can carefully puree in the same pot you cooked in, and then just scoop into the serving bowl, or directly into the bowls. Season to taste with salt and pepper and enjoy!

Our star ingredient:

Pressure cooker magic:

Before the hand mixer gets a hold of our soup:

And, after.  This is some serious comfort food, people.