Soup is probably my husband’s favourite thing to eat, ever. If I made soup (or stew for that matter) every day for the rest of our lives, he would be thrilled. Talk about simple pleasures eh? Luckily I love soup too – for many reasons! I get chilled easily, and when I get chilled, there’s no recovering without a hot cup of something. Soup absolutely fits that bill! More importantly, soup is an incredibly easy way to get a TON of nutrients into your body at once. Have you ever noticed that if you were to take a huge salad and cook it down for a few minutes, the volume dramatically reduces? Well soup takes it even further – you can jam gazillions of nutrients into each bite by throwing in all sorts of veggies, seasoning it with fresh herbs and using homemade broth. Why homemade broth you ask? Well it is a magic elixir that cures everything. Stay tuned for a post on exactly what allows me to make that claim, (UPDATE: check out my post on Bone Broth here) and in the meantime, go ahead and check out this one instead! To sum it up in a few words:
Bone broth heals joints, repairs the digestive tract, protects our cardiovascular system, encourages healthy skin and nails, and is a concentrated source of minerals required for every system in the body.
Since the last few weeks have been incredibly stressful for us (good stressful! We launched Beatty Naturopathic!), I have been doing everything possible to get as many nutrients in us as we can. And since stress causes leaky gut, I’ve been eating soup daily to keep my gut locked up tight to protect my body! So far it seems to be working – neither of us have gotten sick!
I have a variety of soups that I make, but I always come back to this simple favourite: Thai Butternut Squash Soup. Rich and creamy, this nourishing soup makes a fabulous snack or meal. I often eat it for breakfast! As always, I’m using my favourite brand of Thai ingredients:
Aroy D
Their curry pastes are one of a kind. Perfectly clean ingredients – no additives, stabilizers or unnecessary junk. I’ve gone on and on about their coconut milk before, but I’ll say it again: there’s no other brand that compares! With only 2 ingredients (coconut milk and water) it has the best flavour and zero gut irritants!
Bonus: this recipe can be made vegan if you use a veggie broth instead of the (magical elixir) bone broth!
- 1 cup onion, chopped (approx 1 large or 2-3 small)
- 12 cups butternut squash in cubes (1 large or 2 small)
- 2 tbsp cooking fat (lard, coconut oil, duck fat)
- 4 cups of broth
- 2-3 tbsp Aroy D red curry paste (as per desired spiciness)
- **see notes for nightshade free option**
- sea salt
- black pepper
- filtered water
- 4 cups Aroy D coconut milk
- fresh cilantro (optional)
- In a large pot over medium heat, sautee onions in cooking fat until translucent - approx. 5 mins
- Add squash cubes, broth, salt, pepper and curry paste. Stir to combine.
- Top up with filtered water until the squash is just covered in liquid.
- Simmer for 20-25 minutes.
- Puree using an immersion blender. Or carefully transfer portions to your blender.
- Stir in coconut milk and heat through.
- Serve topped with fresh cilantro.
- You can use any curry paste in this recipe - green and golden both work great!
- Nightshade free? Omit curry paste, add in 1 stalk of lemongrass while simmering. Remove before pureeing.
