There's nothing like a simple bowl of soup.
There's a piece I was working on about finding joy in cooking again and I had to think about how reading the book, The Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones affected my everyday habits.
Over time, I've become more comfortable in the kitchen and planning my meals. I imagine how something might taste, even if I haven't done it before. Here's one of my happy little discoveries.
One evening, I was recovering from a Fibromyalgia flare up and needed something simple for dinner. I'd been using cinnamon in more recipes after discovering how much depth it added. Impulsively, I tossed it to my regular vegetable soup on the stove. The same thing happened with sesame oil. I stood by the pot, and it hit me that, wait, I love the smell of sesame oil. Wouldn't it taste amazing with everything? Of course it would! So that went into the pot, too.
While everything simmered on the stove (and I marinated on the couch), I started doubting if it would be any good. Imagine how excited I was when I took that first taste. I was addicted. It felt so good to throw something together that I liked so much. I was proud of myself!
Some weeks later, I had friends over for dinner and served this soup. It was the first time I felt confident serving something I made. Everyone loved it and a few of them even wanted the recipe.
So now I'm sharing, and I hope you love it as much as I do!
The Better than I Expected Vegetable Soup
For the sake of simplicity, all the seasonings are 1 teaspoon and you can add or subtract according to your taste. I will mix them together ahead of time so I can just dump it in at one time. All the vegetables are frozen and diced. You'll need a blender if you want to make a creamy soup.
Ingredients:
Cinnamon
Curry powder
Ground ginger
Paprika
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Cumin
Salt
Olive Oil
20 oz frozen butternut squash
10 oz frozen sweet potatoes
1 cup frozen corn
1 tsp sesame oil
¼ cup cooking wine
6 cups broth of your choice
1 cup frozen spinach (to add at the end)
12-14 oz coconut milk (optional)
- Heat a 6-qt pot and add a tablespoon of olive oil.
- Once oil is hot, add butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and corn to the pot.
- Add all the seasonings and coat the vegetables well.
- Add cooking wine and sesame oil. Stir well.
- Once ingredients are fragrant (about 8 minutes), add broth and bring to a boil.
- Turn heat down to medium low, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let it cool.
- Stir in spinach.
- Once it's cool enough, you can add coconut milk if you want. It's ready now, but if you want a creamy soup, add the next step.
- Blend with the immersion blender, or add to a regular blender or food processor until smooth.
Now you can pour it into a cute bowl and enjoy!