At school we diced up a ton of butternut squash and didn’t use it all, so we all had a homework assignment to take it home and do.. something.. with it. My mind raced. I wanted to do something different than I had in the past, I’ve used a lot of butternut squash and tend to make a few of the same tasty dishes over and over again.
A few days went by, I hadn’t made anything with it yet, and then today I came home with a coconut! I was at work today, and really craving some coconut water. I was feeling tired, and the water in coconuts is a natural source of electrolytes. I could have bought a plastic bottle of cocowater off the shelf.. but it would have been $1 more than an actual coconut. So, I drilled a hole, stuck in a straw, drank my water, and brought the coconut home to play with!
At 11 oclock at night… I became inspired to combine the two ingredients and make this yummy soup!
At 11 oclock at night… I became inspired to combine the two ingredients and make this yummy soup!
1 large butternut squash diced, skin on (seeds out)
1 coconut’s meat
2 t vegetarian not chicken boullion
salt pepper
maple flavor (not syrup!)*sold in grocery stores near the vanilla extract
almond milk (optional)
To blend coconut meat you will need a heavy duty blender. I am not even sure if a food processor would do it, I haven’t tried. But it sure wouldn’t make it as silky smooth as my Vitamix. An alternative to the fresh coconut meat, would be to add a can of coconut milk. Don’t get the lite can, please. It isn’t worth it, you don’t want to skimp on creaminess and flavor, and coconut fat isn’t just good fat or great fat.. it’s the best fat! It has something to do with the fatty acids being medium chains… but I’m no scientist.. lets eat!
Put butternut squash chunks in a pot and cover with water, add the bouillion and bring to a boil. Cook until the squash is very tender. Add the butternut squash, some of the broth, and all the coconut meat (or milk) to a blender and puree until smooth. Put it back in the pot. Season with salt, pink peppercorns (or whatever you got, I added it for a pretty color contrast!) and maple flavor. Add more broth or milk until it reaches your desired consistency.
I guess I have two different comments to make about this soup. First of all butternut squash soup is a comfort food for me. My mom first made it for me back in high school and it was amazing, and since then Shelly and my mom have both been making different versions of the recipe that I brought home from the bank (seriously). I do not know why the bank had recipe cards by the tellers, but they did and I took one.
ReplyDeleteSecond, this version of the soup Shelly put a whole coconut in it, and that made me really nervous. I really really really do not like coconut and can usually taste the smallest amount and then refuse to eat the rest of whatever it may be. So, I naturally thought this batch would be ruined for me. It was not. It was phenomenal, and I ate probably most if not all of it by myself. I couldn't taste the coconut flavor that I dislike so much and it was creamy and delicious.