Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

Hi all!

Sorry I haven’t been posting as frequently as I usually do. Life gets the better of me every now and again; but I’m back with more delicious pumpkin recipes.

This dish is about as seasonal as it’s going to get at the moment. I hope you can also see that I’m linking thing’s I’m using with previous recipes so that you can follow along with my fridge. The idea behind this is to show you how much easier you can make your food and how much better it can be by simply setting yourself up and knowing how to use what you have on hand.

I’ve become a big fan of sweet and spicy combinations and I think this soup is a great introduction to the flavor combination. The soup itself is pretty simple to make, but I chose to serve it in a modern fashion where the soup is poured into a pre-garnished bowl; as opposed to having it on top. So if you want to skip the garnish, it’s really easy.

The soup is pureed at the end, so uniform cuts aren’t really important here at all. All these specifics of slices and dices are there for your understanding. Just know that you want to keep them all the same size so they cook evenly – that’s the key here.  

This is a great way to serve soup to guests! However, if you want to skip all the fanciness, just serve it straight with some fresh hearty bread and it will be sure to please.

Squash and sweet potato soup

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

Squash and sweet potato soup

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 large Spanish onions (sliced)

2 large carrots (diced)

1 stalk celery (diced)

3 cloves garlic (sliced) or 2 T minced garlic (jarred)

1 Thai chili (or jalapeno) (diced)

1 tsp siracha

¼ tsp vanilla

1 Quart butternut squash (diced)

2 Quarts pumpkin (diced)

1 Apple (diced)

1 pinch celery seed

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp dark chili powder

2 quarts stock (vegetable or chicken)

4 sweet potatos (diced)

Salt

Pepper

Apple Ricotta

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 Tablespoon apple butter

1 tsp olive oil

2 leaves sage (fresh) (chiffonade)

Pepper garnish

1 Tablespoon pickled Anaheim pepper (diced)

2 Tablespoons pickled red onion (diced)

¼ cup sweet and salty pumpkin seeds (chopped fine)

½ Tablespoon parsley (chiffonade)

1 tsp olive oil

2 teaspoons dried cranberry (diced small)

Directions:

Squash and sweet potato soup

1. In a large pot over medium heat, sweat off carrots, onions, and celery until the onions are almost translucent; add the garlic and chili pepper until onions become clear.
2. Add vanilla and siracha and stir until incorporated.
3. Add your squashes and apple; stir occasionally until they begin to give off steam and begin to caramelize.
4. Add celery seed, sweet paprika, chili powder. Stir in until it coats everything.
5. Add your sweet potatoes and stock.
6. Allow to come to a boil and then bring the heat down to a simmer.
7. Cook soup until potatoes are fork soft (about 1 hour).
8. In small batches, blend in a blender until smooth and carry through a strainer to remove any fibrous strands that remain.
9. Once the entire mixture is blended, add back into the pot on low heat and season to taste.

Apple Ricotta

1. Push ricotta cheese through mesh strainer before using.
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix until incorporated
3. Hint: use your tabletop mixer paddle attachment to make this more fluffy and smooth.

Pepper Garnish

1. Combine all ingredients and mix until incorporated
2. Hint: Do a really fine chop on the seeds, or substitute with pepitas. 

Apple-maple Granola aka “The Crunch Attack”

I’m nicknaming this granola “Crunch attack” because it is the crunchiest, most gnarliest granola EVER! It’s super easy to make and packed full of nutrients and protein.

I chose to us a wide variety of seeds and nuts based on their nutritional value; however you can substitute with your favorite variety as well. You can also substitute the dried fruit for whatever dried fruit you want. 

Just keep in mind that it comes down to a ratio of fat/sugar to the remaining product. I would suggest that no matter what you try and move around, that you keep the quinoa in it as it is one of the main crunch components.

As far as chopped nuts go, I did a pretty rough chop. The idea is that most of the large items besides the main garnish (apple) are the same size. This will allow for an easier cluster formation. You can also cheat and throw the nuts/seeds you want to use in a blender or food processer and buzz it up a few times (way faster and cleaner than doing it with a knife on the board).

Please enjoy with yogurt and apple butter/apple sauce. Store in a cool, dry place.

Ingredients:

2 cups oats

½ cup quinoa

¼ cup peanuts (chopped)

¼ cup almonds (chopped)

¼ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

¼ cup soy nuts (chopped)

2 Tablespoons flax seed

3 Tablespoons hemp seeds

1 cup apples (dehydrated)

½ cup cranberries (dehydrated)

1/3 cup coconut oil

2 Tablespoons apple butter

2/3 cup maple syrup  or honey

Pinch dark chili powder

Pinch pink Himalayan salt

Directions:

1. Heat coconut oil, apple butter, and maple syrup in small sauce pot until coconut oil is melted.
2. Take remaining ingredients and combine in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add liquid and mix until incorporated.
4. Place the mixture on a sheet  tray line with parchment paper or foil.
5. Bake in the oven at 225 for 2 hours.

Crock-pot Apple Butter

This past week I went apple picking and got a little too excited with the festivities and went a little overboard. Needless to say 28lbs of apples later I basically had to approach it on a colonial scale. So, I wound up doing around 7 different ways and this is probably one of the best, without a doubt. I’d even go as far as to say that this is one of the best recipes I’ve released thus far!

I chose to use the crock-pot method as a way to start exploring the possibilities with these great little guys. I know a lot of you out there probably have one lying around and I want to encourage you to get full use out of any equipment you have. This particular recipe takes about 12 hours to complete, so feel free to just pile in some ingredients and let it go while you continue with your day.

As far as uses are concerned, I would say that you should treat this as a sauce substitute (add a little cold butter to the warm apple mixture, maybe a little rosemary – call it a day), or simply as a sweetener in recipes (think adding to yogurt, toast, bagel, vinaigrette's, marinades, stuffing, or soup).

Keep in mind that apples have a very high moisture content and add a lot of moisture to any recipe when baking. It also contains a lot of pectin (natural plant-based thickener) in the core, so by adding that to a jelly/jam you can sweeten and thicken in the same step.

Crock-pot apple butter

Ingredients:

6-8 apples quartered with the seeds cut/scooped out (enough to reach the indent on the pot)

2 tsp cinnamon (ground)

½ tsp nutmeg

1 clove

1 Tablespoon(ish) pickled ginger (I like a good zip of ginger)

1/8 cup honey (a floral variety like rosemary/lavender works well here)

1 shot whiskey (I suggest the Irish variety)

1 cup water

3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar 

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients into crock pot and cover for about 6-8 hours. 
2. Once it reaches the point where it looks like the picture below, leave uncovered and cook for another 4 hours, stirring occasionally. 
3. 
4. Once it reaches this color, puree it up in a blender. It should be about this dark when compared to regular apple sauce. 
5. 
6. Enjoy!