Wednesday, September 22, 2010

story of a squash

This is a squash.

DSC00816 

Headed to the farmer’s market, I knew I wanted a squash. I went to a stand with a beautiful selection.

“Is there a kind you recommend?” I asked the farmer.

He looked at me, then silently began to go through the butternut squashes.

“… oh, is the butternut good?”

More silent perusal.

“Is there, like, a particular color, or shape…”

Still COMPLETELY SILENT, he handed me this one.

Far be it from me to argue with that.

I took it home and whacked it open, admiring its golden interior (and removing the seeds for roasting!)

DSC00818

I was feelin’ Mexican, so I sort of perused the internet for recipes for Mexican-style butternut soup, and then as usual ignored them and made my own.

I started by roasting it, cause roasting makes everything better.

DSC00824

Then got out my favorite Mexican ingredient. Am disconcerted that chipotle is (as far as I know) spelled wrong on this jar, since I actually bought this at the presumably autentico Latin grocery store. Are we gringos spelling it wrong?!

DSC00822

Here is everything else that went in!

Mexican Butternut Squash Soup

1 butternut squash, cut into chunks
1 T oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 chipotle chili, canned in adobo, minced
3 cups vegetable broth, preferably homemade
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T of adobo sauce from the chipotle can
1 T lime juice

Roast the butternut squash at 375 degrees for 20 minutes (it’s okay if it’s not completely soft yet, it will cook more. This step is more about adding roasted flavor!)
Heat oil on medium high heat. Cook onion until soft and brown, about 7 minutes. Add garlic and chipotle pepper, and cook an additional 3 minutes.
Then add roasted squash, broth, and spices. Bring to a boil on high heat, then reduce to a simmer and let simmer, uncovered, ten minutes.
Remove from heat, cool slightly, and then blend (in two batches) until pureed to your liking.
Finish with lime juice and salt and pepper to taste.

DSC00833

So, basically I cooked a variety of yummy things together in a yummy slow-cooked manner, then stuck them in a tupperware for later in the week when I had no time! As an added bonus, soup gets better the longer the flavors get to hang out and meld.

I had my friend Cristina over for dinner and served the soup with an adorable toppings station of homemade tortilla chips, chopped cilantro, and pumpkinseeds:

DSC00855

Bit of a shame that Cristina turned out to not like cilantro… or squash! Yikes!

Dinner fail.

Anyway, at least mine tasted good :D

DSC00860

(I fed her caprese salad!)

7 comments:

Rhea said...

Gotta love those strong and silent produce men! You know they're good when they simply hand you the Chosen One. You don't have to worry about paying for customer service and a HI MY NAME IS; straight to the business.
And I still want you to be my personal chef.

Maya said...

The only thing better than butternut squash is kabocha squash. I would give a lot to eat a roasted squash right now. But the whole needing a cutting board and only having a microwave thing makes that hard. Harumph.

Heather (Where's the Beach) said...

Ok, just yum. Plain and simple.

Unknown said...

ha, i must say-- that guy knows his squash-- it's gorgeous :0

it's almost the weekend, smile!
loooove,
bec

Sarah @ The Smart Kitchen said...

First, I laughed hysterically...then I got hungry looking at the deliciousness...

MelindaRD said...

Oh no, she didn't like the ingredients. So sweet of you to make her something else. I personally think I would have loved to have some of this soup. I think I may need to make some in the future.

Karin said...

Oh no, I hate it when that happens. I never make anything with cilantro though because almost everyone I know absolutely hates it ;).
Your dinner looks so good though! I love butternut squash.