New Year, New Soup

defrost your bones with this simple supper

The holidays have come and gone but yet somehow we still have to cook dinner. Post New Years it can be tough to get excited about food because everyone just spent the past 3 months absolutely pigging out on all our favorite seasonal treats and meals. Didn’t you just cook for 15 people a couple weeks ago, how in the fuck are you still expected to make dinner tonight? Inspiration and excitement are in short supply on these dark, cold January days. But that’s why you’re here.

all of us

For the next couple weeks, we’re  gonna focus on soups and stews; comfort food for chilly nights that will nourish and warm you the fuck up. Some, like this week’s, will be perfect one-pot meals that you can easily throw together after work. Others are gonna be slightly more complicated stunners for rainy weekends when you have the time and energy to make something special.

This soup is bright, filling, and comes together fast all in one pot. The hardest part here is cutting the butternut squash. After that you’re about 20 minutes away from dinner. Not too bad for a meal that everyone is gonna want seconds of. If you have some time, throw together some quick pickled shallots to go on the top. Just thinly slice a shallot, throw it in a shallow bowl with a pinch of salt and cover it with rice vinegar. Let this sit while you cook the rest of the soup and when you’re ready to serve, lay them out with the rest of the toppings. They’re super-fast and make the whole meal feel fancy as hell.

Butternut Squash Stew with Red Lentils

Makes enough for 4 people

1 sweet onion, diced

1 carrot, minced

1 butternut squash, peeled and diced (approx 4 cups)

1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger

4 cloves of garlic, minced

½ cup sliced green onion

¾ cup red lentils

2 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari

1 teaspoon garam masala*

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

Zest from ½ lime

One 15 ounce can coconut milk

4 cup veggie broth

Juice from 1 lime

Salt and pepper to taste

Cilantro

In a large soup pot warm up a little neutral tasting oil, like peanut, over a medium high heat. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and sauté it around until it starts to brown in some spots, about 5-7 minutes. Add the carrot and butternut squash and cook for another couple minutes until the carrot starts to soften. Toss in the ginger, garlic, green onions, and lentils and cook for another minute until everything starts smelling goddamn delicious. Drizzle over the soy sauce, the garam masala, turmeric, and lime zest and cook for another 2 minutes so that everything gets coated in the spices. Add the coconut milk, broth, and then let the pot come to a simmer.

Once the pot is simmering, turn the heat down to medium low and let it cook at a slower simmer for another 15 minutes so that the lentils are tender, and the butternut squash is soft. Turn off the heat, add the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm topped with cilantro and some more green onions with more lime wedges on the side and some quick pickled shallots right on top.

*this is a great spice blend that should be with the other spices at a well-stocked grocery store. Can’t find it or don’t even want to look? Sub in ½ teaspoon ground coriander or cumin, ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/8 ground cloves.

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Thanks so much for joining us here in The Broiler Room. We’ve really missed all y’all this last week. Hope the feeling was mutual. 

M&M