The one thing that keeps me focused and happy following WW is having good soup virtually on tap. Today I decided it had to be butternut squash, my absolute favourite!
When WW introduced Smart Start at the beginning of the year, they had a selection of meal cards with Smart Start recipes. Today was the first time I went through them and there it was - carrots and butternut squash soup! Perfect!
Although I will publish the recipe as WW presented it, my soups will always be different. For one thing- I don't really follow exact measurements of the vegetables in a soup recipe. Then there is the small matter of my cumin allergy - I can't use cumin at all and am always looking for something to take its place.
In Morrison's recently I noticed all kinds of new spice mixes, so I bought 3 of the 4. The only one I didn't get was one with cumin! This time I used Four Pepper Rub. It says it is a beef rub, but I ignored that! And in reading the ingredients, I would like to question how it can be called Four Pepper anything - the list goes like this: Demerara Sugar, dried onion, dried garlic, salt, mustard seed, dried red pepper, dried green pepper, mustard flour, black pepper, oil, peppercorns and dried thyme. Regardless of the misleading name - this spice mix was delicious and worked perfectly as a substitute for cumin. There is a burn in this soup and that is the part of eating cumin that I miss! (ok, in re-reading this, depending on how you count black pepper and peppercorns, there can be 4 peppers!)
The recipe on its own will follow at the end, in case you don't want my comments or photos!
Spiced Carrot and Squash Soup 1pp per serving 4 servings per recipe
 |
| I had 2 squashes and decided to double the recipe. |
calorie controlled cooking spray
300g (10 1/2 oz) carrots, peeled and chopped
400g (14 oz) butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and chopped
1 Tbs medium curry powder
1.2 litres (2 pints) hot vegetable stock
2 tsps. olive oil
2 large red onions, sliced thinly
1tsp black onion seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
 |
| All the peel and seeds! So much easier this way. |
1. Spray a large lidded saucepan with the cooking spray and heat until hot. Add the carrots, squash and curry powder and stir fry for 3 minutes. Add the stock, bring to the boil, cover and reduce the heat to simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
2. Transfer to a liquidiser, or use a hand held blender and blend until smooth.
3. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and cook the onions over a medium high heat for 5 - 10 minutes until golden and crispy. Stir in the onion seeds and cumin seeds and cook for a minute.
4. Serve the soup topped with the onion mixture.
I never added the onions and seeds. This was just too time consuming when all I wanted was soup! The topping sounds delicious, but I didn't feel like doing it!
"When those waiters ask me if I want some fresh ground pepper, I ask if they have any aged pepper."
Andy Rooney
Spiced Carrot and Squash Soup 1pp per serving 4 servings per recipe
Ingredients:
calorie controlled cooking spray
300g (10 1/2 oz) carrots, peeled and chopped
400g (14 oz) butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and chopped
1 Tbs medium curry powder
1.2 litres (2 pints) hot vegetable stock
2 tsps. olive oil
2 large red onions, sliced thinly
1tsp black onion seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1. Spray a large lidded saucepan with the cooking spray and heat until hot. Add the carrots, squash and curry powder and stir fry for 3 minutes. Add the stock, bring to the boil, cover and reduce the heat to simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
2. Transfer to a liquidiser, or use a hand held blender and blend until smooth.
3. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and cook the onions over a medium high heat for 5 - 10 minutes until golden and crispy. Stir in the onion seeds and cumin seeds and cook for a minute.
4. Serve the soup topped with the onion mixture.
"When those waiters ask me if I want some fresh ground pepper, I ask if they have any aged pepper."
Andy Rooney
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