Butternut Squash Soup Recipe That Actually Tastes Like Butternut Squash ♥

Today's butternut squash soup recipe: Just four ingredients plus water and salt, yet the butternut squash soup that emerges is luxuriant, silky-smooth and almost custardy. And oo-la-la, if it doesn't taste like butternut squash too! This stuff is so elegant, I considered serving it in wine glasses!

They had me at "butternut squash soup that tastes like butternut squash". There's no counting the recipes I've tried, reaching in vain for that color of honeyed gold, making one after another Sisyphean trip up the hill of butternut squash soup worth making, for its own sake, for its own silky-soup winter squash glory.

Finally. I loved this soup, I think you will too, I want you to love this soup!

Spicy Cauliflower Soup ♥ Recipe

A quick 'n' easy cauliflower soup, spicy with spice, not spicy with heat. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point. Vegan.

Can't say I know, exactly, what gruel is, but I suspect it might look a lot like a pot of Spicy Cauliflower soup, smudgy and watery, muddy-yellow and dirty-brown.

But please don't judge this soup by its appearance. What it lacks in aesthetics, it compensates in flavor. The spices are 'Indian-style' – coriander, cumin and turmeric, plus a little chili powder for a small measure of heat. That's right, this soup is spicy – but not spicy-hot, just spicy. I found it a spare and satisfying antidote to a weekend of too-rich food and too-little exercise.

My soup bowl remained monastic and rustic, just the soup itself and a gorgeous loaf of rye bread from St. Louis' bakery The Daily Bread. But the inspiring recipe called for topping the soup with yogurt, chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice, go ahead, live it up.

SPICY CAULIFLOWER SOUP

Hands-on time: 25 minutes
Time to table: 75 minutes but improves after resting a few hours
Makes 7 cups

6 cups vegetable broth or chicken stock (I used two tablespoons of Homemade Vegetable Bouillon plus 6 cups water)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed (see TIPS)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
Few sprinkles of cayenne or red pepper flakes
Kosher salt to taste

1 large head fresh cauliflower, trimmed and cut into florets

In the microwave, bring all or part of the stock to a boil. (This is a time-saving step that can be skipped is time is no issue.)

In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil on MEDIUM HIGH until shimmery. Add the onion and carrot as they're prepped, stirring to coat with fat. When the onion is soft and just beginning to turn golden, stir in the spices and let cook for a minute. Add the stock (just a splash at first, it will sizzle), then the cauliflower. Bring to a boil, cover and adjust heat to maintain a slow simmer. Let cook until the cauliflower is very soft, about 30 minutes. (If you're inclined, now's the time to remove a few pieces of cauliflower for garnishing the bowls.) With a potato masher, or an immersion blender, even the back of a serving fork, say, smash the cauliflower.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE (How many calories in Spicy Cauliflower Soup? How many Weight Watchers points in Spicy Cauliflower Soup? Per Cup: 62 Calories; 2g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 53mg Sodium; 10g Carb; 4g Fiber; 4g Sugar; 3g Protein; Weight Watchers 1 point (technically, .5 Weight Watchers points) Please note, there are other cauliflower soup recipes flying around the internet, ones that call for a stick of butter, cream and on top of all that, sour cream. By my math, those cauliflower soups rack up 450 calories and 10 Weight Watchers points. I just don't get it.

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION
Adapted from The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters, which has been on my wish list for awhile and which Nupur from One Hot Stove lent to me recently. I find myself 'liking' the book but not feeling particularly inspired to cook by it. It seems to be a 'basic' cookbook of whole-food cooking, say, like a 21st-century whole-food version a first Betty Crocker or BHG cookbook.

KITCHEN NOTES
I crushed the coriander and cumin seeds in a small mortar and pestle, something I lived happily without for many years. I do find myself using it again and again, it doesn't take up much space, it washes easily in the dishwasher. So I'm keeping it! But if you don't have one, ground coriander and cumin would work, so would running the spices through a small spice blender. If you have the whole spices and don't want to grind them, I'd recommend tempering the spices in the oil to soften before adding the onion.

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MORE HEALTHY CAULIFLOWER RECIPES
~ Roasted Cauliflower ~
~ Cauliflower Spanish 'Rice' ~
~ Curried Cauliflower ~
~ more cauliflower recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Cauliflower Salad with Fresh Herbs ~
~ Lighter Mashed 'Potatoes' ~
~ Quick Cauliflower Soup ~
~ more cauliflower recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column

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© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2010

Sweet Potato & Butternut Squash Tagine ♥ Recipe

Today's tagine recipe: A magical pairing of sweet potatoes and butternut squash, healthy 'bright orange' vegetables married with a medley of Moroccan spices, cooked in a tagine and served tableside. Beautiful color to banish the mid-winter blues! Works as a side dish or a vegetarian supper. Vegan.

You know how you cook something and it's so good that its memory lingers? A week, a month, some weeks later you're still feeling all dreamy? You intend to make it again, but then the moment passes, and yet the memory still lingers? And best of all, then you finally make it again and reality matches the memory?

When we made this a year ago, it was a side dish. But when I remade it this week and paired it with Oven-Baked Brown Rice, whoa, it made for a fabulous vegetarian -- vegan even -- supper. I was completely blown away. The ingredients are 100% familiar and yet, together, they create something entirely new and magical.

WHAT IS A TAGINE? A tagine is North African stew, often meat and vegetables simmered with preserved lemon, olives, dried fruit and a medley of spices such as cinnamon, ginger, cumin, saffron and turmeric. But a tagine is also a North African cooking vessel, so used with Moroccan recipes, Tunisian recipes, Algerian recipes. My friend Lydia has an artist friend who makes handmade clay tagines, they're just lovely and will give you an idea of the shape. I've been cooking with an All-Clad Tagine, the base is stainless steel, the domed lid is glazed terra cotta which, I'll mention, is prone to chipping, too bad. What I love most about the tagine is how it is the ultimate in stove-to-table cooking. I just love the drama of putting the tagine in the center of the table, then whisking off the lid with a big flourish. When people are over for dinner, it makes an impression! We tend to use it as a slow-cooker for the oven, combining meat with lots of vegetables to cook for several hours, then serving rice or couscous on the side. Very satisfying!