Curry Squash Apple Soup

I truly adore soup season. There’s something about a bowl of soup that just makes me want to cozy up beside a fire. [of course, I'd need to have a fireplace first...]

The other thing I love about soup? My kids eat it. And love it. It’s one of the few ways my two-year-old willingly eats vegetables. Not that he knows the veggies are there… but it’s a meal without a fight, which is a big win for mama.

When it comes to favorites, it’s a toss up between my Potato Leek Soup and this one – Curry Squash Apple Soup. Both are super easy and very customizable to what you and your family like. And since I’ve already shared one recipe, here’s the other, so you can pick your fave!

Curry Squash Apple Soup

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 2 apples
• 2 garlic cloves
• 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• sour cream
• cilantro
• curry powder
• sea salt
• extra virgin olive oil
• red pepper flakes *optional

Chop up the garlic cloves and throw them into your stockpot with some olive oil, sea salt, and curry powder. You don’t want the garlic to be in there too long by itself, or it will burn – just enough to start to release those yummy garlic flavors!

Chop up the squash and apples – I don’t peel the apples, just wash them.  There are so many good nutrients in the skin that you don’t want to miss out on.  Throw them in the pot, plus salt and curry powder, to taste. If you want to add red pepper flakes, do this now. It will add some spice to your soup, but you won’t need much.

Saute until the squash and apples begin to cook a bit, then add your broth.

Note: You could easily cook this in a slow cooker, you could cook it all day on low, or 4 hours on high.  If you are doing this on the stove, it usually takes about 45 minutes.

After everything is all cooked, add the sour cream and blend with an immersion blender. I usually add a big spoonful or two. The sour cream gives it a good creaminess, though I’m sure you could make the soup without it if you are a dairy-free family. You could also sub plain greek yogurt – I do that quite often.

We usually serve this with quinoa [just like with the potato leek soup!]. My two-year-old and my fifteen-month-old both eat their soup served right over the quinoa. It makes it a little easier to eat for them. The quinoa makes the meal a little heartier, which is important for some of my bottomless pit boys!

Let me know if you try out the recipe! Do you have a favorite soup recipe? Please share a link in the comments! And check out Delia’s Soup of the Day series going on this month… YUM!

Meals Kids Love: Potato Leek Soup!

Did you see any of the Meals Kids Love series, put on by Jenny over at The Southern Institute for Domestic Arts and Crafts?  There are some great looking meals over there.  We tried the Thai noodles and the lemon pepper talapia, which were [mostly] a hit.  If you don’t include the fact that my fifteen-month-old wouldn’t even touch them.  At all. [Picture me pulling out my hair, as this happens nearly every meal.... grr]

To share in the fun, Jenny is hosting a link-up, so I thought I’d hop over there with a meal that we love at our house.

Potato Leek Soup

2 sprigs rosemary
1 bunch parsley
1-2 carrots and/or 4 parsnips
6-8 large potatoes [not the huge baking potatoes]
3-4 leeks
2 cloves garlic
2 cups water
2 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken broth
2 cups milk
1 cup sour cream
salt/pepper to taste

This recipe is super easy and quick, and it can be altered to fit your family.  I tend to not actually follow recipes, so I just threw this together one night, and every time I make it, it’s a bit different.  So if you don’t have these exact ingredients, don’t panic – you can probably wing it and come up with something yummy.

Chop up the veggies – I don’t peel carrots, parsnips, or potatoes, just wash them.  There are so many good nutrients in the skin that you don’t want to miss out on.  If you’ve never worked with leeks before, cut off the ends, and then slice them lengthwise.  Wash them once they are sliced, so you can get all the little dirtilies that might be hiding inside.  Normally, when you cook with leeks, you just use the white end, but when making soup, you can use the entire thing.  Throw all the veggies in the pot or crockpot.

Chop up the garlic cloves, rosemary, and parsley.  Throw them in the pot as well.

Add all the liquid to the pot, as well as some salt/pepper.

This is my favorite broth to use.  So, so yummy.  I’ve made this soup with either vegetable or chicken broth, and both turn out great.  If you are a dairy-free family, you can easily leave out the milk here, just add more broth and/or water.

If you are going to cook this in a slow cooker, you could cook it all day on low, or 4 hours on high.  If you are doing this on the stove, it usually takes about 45 minutes. [If you are really short on time, saute the veggies for a little bit before adding the liquid, and the soup should be cooked even faster.]

After everything is all cooked, add the sour cream and blend with an immersion blender.  If your kids have an aversion to anything green (because this does have a green tint to it!), adding more sour cream will cover that up.  You could even skip the sour cream all together, but I like the little bit of creaminess it gives the soup.  Sometimes I don’t add much at all, other times I add more.

Loved by even the pickiest of eaters!

Delicious!  If your kids don’t like the texture of soup, my youngest loves to eat this mixed with quinoa (which also adds some protein).

This does make a LOT of soup – enough for our family, plus leftovers, plus some to freeze.  Which I always do, because it will make a super fast meal on those “um, it’s 5:00 and I haven’t even thought about dinner yet” nights.

Happy souping!