Butternut and kale soup

A few days ago I went to visit my dear friend Jenna, who lives 10 minutes away. I have not seen her in more than a month… how does that happen? It always amazes me.

She waited for me with a bowl of soup, creamy, warm, wonderful soup. Just the right thing that I was looking for my belly. She knows me so well. It felt so good that I have been thinking about that soup for a few days now and I decided to recreate it for you.

It came out to be a different texture because I wanted something playful, or maybe it was late at night and couldn’t wait for the soup to cool down so I can blend it. In any case I like the texture, and the surprising flavor of the last minute ingredients.

When I make soup, I almost always make them up. It starts with me realizing I want something warm, then looking around to see what I have in my hanging pantry (cute wire basket… and it works because it never fails to inspire me as long as I keep it full) and start with the star of the dish… in this case, butternut.

Then I think of the “what else”, what other vegetables, or legumes to add, do I want beans, do I want protein… you get it.

I almost always have the basics, onion (or leeks), garlic, carrot, maybe some celery and parsnip, some potato of some kind, and some sort of greens… sometimes no greens, whatever you have.

Once I have that part figure out, I pull it all out on my counter-top, heat up my pan and start cooking.

I start the onion and garlic, then I think aroma… should I go mild, or spicy, Thai, or Indian, sweet or sour. When it comes to spices, I don’t always know how it will go with the dish, even though I have some idea, so I do the smell test (it works for my nose). I smell the soup, holding the jar of the spice close to my nose and if they smell good together, I add it. I know, it might sound weird, but it really works for me.

So thinking of Jenna’s soup, this is what I came up with the other night:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 half of yellow onion coarsely chopped

3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tbsp powdered turmeric

1 tsp powdered ginger

1/8 tsp powdered cayenne

1 carrot sliced (I used some fancy pre-sliced carrots, about a handful)

1 celery stick chopped up

2 hand-cupfuls cubed butternut squash (about one inch thick)

salt and pepper to taste

1 large bunch of kale leaves

1 cup fresh coriander leaves

Start by sauteing the onion for a bit until it gets soft, then throw in the garlic for a couple of minutes to get it going. As that is happening, add the spices, a pinch of salt and pepper, and toss them around so they will release their aromas. Then in go the carrots, celery and squash for a few minutes, mixing a bit to get some of those wonderful flavors on them.

Once everything is well coated and before they start to stick to the pan too much, add plain water (you can do vegetable broth or chicken broth if you want) to cover the squash about 3 inches, depending on how thick you like your soups. It’s all about personal preference, I think. That gives you permission to be playful with cooking.

Turn the heat on high to bring everything to a boil, and then turn it on low and let it simmer covered, about 10 minutes.

If you haven’t done it already, now is a good time to strip the kale off its stems and cut it into pieces and set it aside. Again, make it just the way you like it. I like it chunkier.

After 10 minutes, check and see… you are looking for is some resistance when you poke the squash with your fork, when they are just about done. At that point add the kale and simmer it 5 more minutes. Keep an eye on it, you don’t want things to get too mushy on you.

Once the kale has softened up, and so has the pumpkin, you can turn the heat off, adjust the spices and salt and let is cool down a bit. You want to do this before you add your coriander leaves, or they will wilt and loose their flavor… and this last touch gives it such a great balance. The heat, and earthiness from the spices, the sweetness from the pumpkin, the subtle bitterness from the kale and the fresh, floral and woodsy coriander… mm..mmmmm.

Hope you like it!