Winter Squash Soup

Immediately after the weather dipped below freezing, I started to crave a silky butternut squash soup. Recipes I found online were either super boring, or filled with 2 cartons of cream or both. I wanted to create a dairy free soup recipe with a bone broth base that drifted from the classic herbal combinations like sage, rosemary and thyme. Luckily, I have a professional chef in my house to taste test. This one turned out great. Its perfect to freeze and has lots of healing gut foods. From TCM food therapy perspective, its nourishing for the spleen and stomach and warming. I hope you enjoy.

Ingredients

(*This is a larger batch to allow for plenty of leftovers to freeze, optional to cut recipe in half.)
3.5 lb of winter squash varieties (we used butternut, kabocha and acorn)
2 red onion
5 garlic cloves
1.5 oz fresh ginger
2 tbsp coriander
2 tsp cumin
1 quart bone broth or chicken stock
1 can coconut milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste
Fresh Cilantro
Toasted Slivered or chopped Almonds

Peel skin from squash, cut squash into smaller chunks. Set seeds aside to save as these are super tasty and a great source of zinc! Slice red onions. Heat coconut oil on medium in your soup pot of choice. Add onions, cook for 2 minutes until onions become more translucent. Add squash. Increase heat to medium-high being careful to avoid burning. Cook until squash begins to lightly brown. Stir in ginger and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Deglaze pot with 2 TBSP of apple cider vinegar. This step will elevate the toasty squash notes and deepen the flavor profile. Stir in coconut milk and bone broth, bring pot to a low simmer and add in remaining spices and some salt. Simmer until squash is tender. Blend well with soup wand or Vitamix adding in 1 TBSP of lemon or lime juice. Salt to taste.

Option to top with toasted almonds and fresh cilantro before serving.