I made this soup with a friend. It came out of a cookbook she had from the library, with some ridiculous title like "Eating well on a budget." I was not hopeful. As it turns out, this is now perhaps my favorite soup. We call it "winter chili" because it uses butternut squash as its base (a winter vegetable at our monthly farmer's markets) rather than tomatoes (summer staple). It also gets so many kinds of vegetables into me at once, in a season when I a bit thin on vegetables in my diet.
You can add or remove vegetables as you like. For example, we also made this adding celery or celeriac with the carrots at the beginning and with frozen corn added at the end. The soup is perfect served with some bread. It’s very hearty and leaves you full for quite some time! My friend also waited to add the red pepper flakes and blended it up as baby food for her son. It was a hit among all generations!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups stock
1 can of tomatoes or 1 chopped tomato
1 medium butternut squash soup, chopped
1 can kidney beans, rinsed (also tested and approved with chickpeas and black beans)
10 ounces of kale, spinach, chard, or other bitter greens, chopped
crushed red pepper
salt and pepper
Cooking:
1. Saute the onion, garlic, and carrots until onions start to brown, about 5 minutes.
2. Scrape the sides of the pot, and add the stock. Add the butternut squash and crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes, or until squash are very soft and starting to fall apart.
3. Remove about 3 cups of the soup and blend it or food process it. (This makes the soup thicker; we use an immersion blender to avoid scalding, which I highly recommend if you own one).
4. Add the beans and kale. Cook until the greens are wilted, or about five minutes.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.