Digital Potluck: Butternut Soup

A few years ago, I started weekly soup suppers in the fall and winter months. We’d gather—friends, neighbors, family—for a simple meal of soup and connection. Many weeks we would have extra soup to send home or deliver to someone who couldn’t make it. This year was different. I moved and then there was the pandemic. When I looked ahead to this fall, what I imagined missing most was this gathering time around soup. So a few weeks ago, I started a Zoom soup supper where we “meet,” check-in, and cook together before sharing in a virtual meal time. What follows is the recipe that has been a favorite. It’s easy, flexible, vegan, and delicious. 

Butternut Soup

Ingredients:

1 onion diced

1 green apple, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1 cup each celery and carrots, chopped (or a bag of shredded carrots

1 butternut squash peeled, seeded, and chopped (or a bag of frozen or a can of puréed squash)

1 quart of broth (vegetarian or chicken)

1 can of coconut milk

1 T curry powder (or to taste)

2T olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Instructions:

Heat olive oil in a skillet and add onions, carrots, and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until soft (5-8 minutes). Add mixture to a soup pot along with the squash, apple, broth, and curry powder. Simmer 20 minutes, or until squash and apple are easily mashable. Taste and adjust seasonings. Some prefer to add some cinnamon or nutmeg. Blend soup with an immersion blender or in careful batches in a traditional blender. (or mash with a potato masher.) Add coconut milk and stir. Serve plain or with apples, pumpkin seeds, yogurt or chutney on top. To pump up the protein, add garbanzo beans.

 

About the Digital Potluck: While churches are unable to gather for potlucks during the pandemic, we can still share our sacred love for heavenly delectable gifts online. The Digital Potluck is a regular column for the sharing of healthy, plant-rich recipes in The Pollinator: The UCC’s Environmental Justice Newsletter. As the UCC’s Kairos Call to Action notes, eating plant-rich foods is good for both the body and the planet.