Recipe: Butternut squash soup
This recipe is an autumn favourite in our household. And that extends to the children. It is also a recipe I love to offer my postpartum clients in the colder months of the year. The first reason being it follows the traditional postpartum view on nutrition - warm, soft, easy to digest and nutrient - dense. The second reason is it yields a large enough batch for leftovers or to keep in the freezer for later meals. Lastly, it is a quick recipe to make, and easy to layer with wholesome toppings that elevate its nutritional profile.
Yields: 6-8 portions
Time: around 40 minutes
Ingredients:
extra virgin olive oil
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
1 leek
1 large butternut squash
2 sweet potatoes
2-3 large carrots
1.5L vegetable broth/ bone broth
salt & pepper
garlic powder
bay leaves
Steps:
Set the oven to 180C, fan mode. Peel and cut the butternut squash into chunks, place on a baking tray, and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to your liking.
Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cut all the rest of the vegetables (onion, garlic, leek, sweet potatoes, carrots) and place in the pot. Give it a good stir and let them cook for about 5-10 minutes with the lid half on.
While the vegetables are cooking, place the baking tray in the oven for about 25 minutes or until the butternut squash starts to brown.
Add the 1.5L vegetable broth/ bone broth to the pot, bring to a boil, then reduce the temperature to medium heat once again so that the soup is simmering and not boiling. Season with salt and pepper and a few bay leaves.
Once the vegetables in the pot are soft, add the roasted butternut squash with any juices, remove the bay leaves, and blend to a smooth consistency.
Toppings:
boiled eggs
mix of sesame seeds & pumpkin seeds
1 tsp of white miso paste per portion, once the soup has cooled down a bit. It gives it a nice umami taste.
oven -roasted chickpeas
crumbled feta cheese
tip: to encourage children to add toppings, set two different topping on the table they can choose from. Giving them the option to choose for themselves creates trust and a higher chance of them going for it.
Nutritional profile: this soup is packed with beta-carotene (plant form of vitamin A) found in the butternut squash, sweet potatoes and carrots. The healthy fat from the extra virgin olive oil helps increase the absorption of vitamin A in the body, since this vitamin is a fat-soluble vitamin. Ghee is another delicious healthy fat you can use to roast and fry with. Vitamin A is vital for proper immune system function, which during the colder months is a wonderful support for the body. Other benefits include eye health and thyroid health.
The toppings help make this soup more balanced, i.e - complete the soup so that it contains all 3 macronutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, fats.
carbohydrates: butternut squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, chickpeas
proteins: bone broth, toppings (boiled eggs, sesame seeds & pumpkin seeds, white miso paste, chickpeas, feta cheese)
fats: extra virgin olive oil/ghee, feta cheese, sesame/pumpkin seeds
Adding the white miso paste further elevates the dish since it helps support gut health, immunity and digestion. Because of the beneficial bacteria found in miso paste, it should be added to the dish after cooking and once the soup has cooled down since the heat can destroy the beneficial bacteria.