Food Simply Simple

This winter seems endless and cold.  As I work through the 100 or so winter squashes that I stockpile in the fall, I like to get creative with herbs and spices.  I also  like to make use of the things I have in my kitchen already.  So here's a soup I think is quite easy and very nutritious.  You can use any squash but I'd avoid the ones that have a lot of fiber.  Butternut is the standby, but you can work with La Estrella, Thai pumpkin, Buttercup, even a Marina di Chioggia.

Somewhat Spicy Squash Soup

Serves 6-8

1 large yellow onion

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 cups/l package yellow split peas or chana dal

1 package frozen corn

2 lbs squash (6- 8 cups), peeled, seeded, cubed

3 T olive oil

2 tsp. red curry [add more, to taste, if you like spicy food]

1 tsp. turmeric

1 28 oz can whole tomatoes in juice

9 c. water

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Chop onion and garlic and place in large soup pot (6-7 quarts) with olive oil, salt lightly, and sauté until the onion softens. Stir in the turmeric and curry and sauté for a minute or two. Add the squash, split peas, tomatoes and their juices, and the water. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Check to see if the squash and split peas are cooked. The squash is done when you can smoosh it with your spoon. Taste the split peas to ensure they are soft enough. It is nice to have them with a little bit of bite, but not uncooked.

When the split peas are cooked, add the corn and cook 3-5 minutes to ensure the corn is cooked thoroughly and heated.

Serve!

This soup turned out to be a great dinner, and I will serve it with corn muffins next time, and maybe a salad, although we tend to eat one dish meals in the winter so that we can stay by the fire.  Our dog loves muffins, but we are not certain it's good to keep dropping crumbs for him.  Anyway, there was quite enough left for hearty lunches, too, so it was cook once, eat twice, or more.

LinK