If you love cream of orange vegetable soups, I think you’ll really love this. And if you love Fall, serving this to your family is a fun and delicious way to usher in the season!
Cheshvan is here, ushering in Fall season – my all-time, absolute favorite season! Why do I love Fall so much? Oh… let me count the ways. It’s calm, cool, cozy; everyone is back on routine; seasonal comfort foods such as creamy soups and baked root vegetables; daylight savings time is OFF(!), rain (finally!), leaves turning colors and much more. But I digress, and I may have to write a whole different article just on why I LOVE Fall and the special things we do in Fall.
Okay so the story is, is that one of my favorite restaurants in Jerusalem, Village Green, recently closed down. This place was a dream for me, okay? A dream! Healthy and delicious – like really healthy. Quaint and lovely ambience. Super nice workers and like-minded customers. Every time I went there, I knew at least one person there, usually more. The food was beyond. To die for soups, super healthy and delicious salads, and they made a mean lasagna I must say. Their desserts? Just as good, if not better, than my grandmother’s!
I had a tradition of going to Village Green every October – just me, myself, and I, to have their butternut squash soup and lemongrass tea. It was my exclusive, official welcome-to-Fall celebration. I would have my soup, sip my tea, and think about everything about Fall that I was grateful for, especially the cooler weather, the rain and looking forward to planning and celebrating Chanukah. What can I say – good times!
I’ve been working on recreating it because there is no way that I can let October go by without my butternut squash soup celebration!
So, abut this butternut squash soup – cozying up with it in the cooler weather was heavenly as was it’s very rich and unique flavor. I don’t know what secret ingredient they put in it, but it literally made me feel happy, LOL! It was this amazing combination of healthiness, creamy-chunkiness, sweet mixed with curried spiciness. Definitely in the category of comfort food. The best thing about it was actually the texture. It wasn’t blended to perfect creaminess; it was this chunky creaminess that was just awesome.
Daylight savings time is OFF(!), rain (finally!), leaves turning colors!
And so… I’ve been working on recreating it because there is no way that I can let October go by without my butternut squash soup celebration, albeit in my kitchen and not in Village Green. It took a few tries, and I certainly did not get it perfectly, but I think I came close enough. If you love cream of orange vegetable soups, I think you’ll really love this. And if you love Fall, serving this to your family is a fun and delicious way to usher in the season!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
5 cups cubed butternut squash
1 cup carrot, chopped up
1 golden delicious apple, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons minced ginger
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 tablespoons honey
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 package dairy creamer
4 cups pareve chicken soup mix, MSG-free
Salt and pepper, to taste
Toasted pumpkin seeds, to garnish
DIRECTIONS:
Heat butter in a large pot and add onions. Sauté for about ten minutes until golden. Add the butternut, carrots and apples and cook another 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, ginger, curry powder, honey and nutmeg and cook another 2 minutes.
Pour the broth over the vegetables and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
Let soup cool slightly, then puree but just for a few seconds, making sure it does not become creamy but rather chunky. Reheat, add the dairy creamer and season with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with pumpkin seeds.
