This month's recipe comes from one of my all-time favorite sites, Cooking Rut. You might be surprised to learn that Cooking Rut isn't a vegan/vegetarian blog ... it's a cooking site which includes something for everyone. The owner and "top chef", Marcy, offers delicious recipes like Falafel and Chile Relleno. In a series of posts called Culinary School Friday, you'll find very informative articles, such as All About Flour. In another post (and one of my personal favorites), Potatoes, Explained, you learn all about the different varieties of potatoes and how to use them. But that's not all ... in every post you'll find Marcy's unique sense of humor and joy in cooking.
Marcy kindly agreed to share one of her recipes with us. It looks so good ... I hope you'll give it a try. And if you have a few minutes, be sure to visit Cooking Rut ... I just know you'll love it! And now ... here's Marcy:
Greetings from a faraway land called Montana. Small Footprints asked me to provide a vegan recipe. I have many recipes, most of which are not vegan. I’m what you call a “flexitarian.” You know… one of those people who eat vegetarian on cool days of the week like Meatless Mondays or Tofu Tuesdays. But this brings up a question (I have many)… why doesn’t every day have a cool “veggie” name? I can come up with a few: “Sans meat Saturdays,” Salad Sundays,” or “Fennel Fridays.” And why are flexitarians only supposed to eat vegetarian meals on Mondays and Tuesdays? I tend to plan meatless meals during the week and not necessarily on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Anyway… Here is a simple, vegan recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash Soup. It’s one of those simple soups with just a few ingredients. It’s important to note that when making recipes with a small list of ingredients, that you pay attention to quality. For instance, you want a good vegetable stock (homemade preferably), freshly ground black pepper, and sea salt (or Kosher… but definitely not iodized). Also, if you can, be sure to buy locally/organically/sustainably grown vegetables. Using high quality ingredients will set your cooking apart from the rest.
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
1-2 carrots, peeled, sliced
1 butternut squash, peeled, diced into ½-inch cubes
3 leeks, washed thoroughly and sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt – pinch or so
Freshly ground black pepper
2-3 cups vegetable stock
Cayenne pepper – to taste (optional)
Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Place the carrots and squash on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Toss together to distribute the oil and seasonings. Bake in the hot oven for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and toss in the leeks and garlic. Roast for another 15 minutes or so or until the carrots and squash are tender.
In the meantime, heat the stock on the stove. When the vegetables are done, puree them in a blender or food processor. If using a blender, you will need to add some of the stock to the vegetables and you will probably need to work in batches. The amount of stock used depends on how thick you want the soup. I like thick, hearty soups, so I add around 2 cups of stock. Others may like it thinner… it’s up to you.
Adjust the seasonings with the salt and pepper. Add a pinch of ground cayenne pepper (or ground ancho pepper) for a little heat and to counteract the sweetness of the squash.
If you want a super-smooth soup, push the pureed soup through a strainer to remove the solids.
Serve with crusty bread or croutons.
Enjoy!
Doesn't that sound yummy? I'd like to thank Marcy for sharing this delicious recipe with us. If you have a vegan recipe which you'd like to share, please send it to me HERE.
Hungry for more? Check out all of our vegan recipes HERE.