Creamy Squash & Cumin Seed Soup

Ingredients:

½ yellow onion, diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 stalk of celery, diced

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tsp turmeric 

3 cloves of garlic, minced

½ butternut squash (or a small one), roughly 1.5 cups, peeled and diced]

1 tsp of salt

 4 cups vegetable stock

½ cup coconut milk

2 cups greens (such as spinach or kale)

1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

½ bunch cilantro, chopped

Juice of half a lemon

1 tablespoon of olive oil, for cooking

Method:

In a large pot, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced onion, carrot, celery and salt. Sauté until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes. Next, stir in the cumin seeds, turmeric, minced garlic, and diced butternut squash. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the squash begins to soften.

Once the vegetables have cooked down a bit, pour in the vegetable stock, cannellini beans and coconut milk. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 15 minutes, or until the squash is fully tender.

Once all of your vegetables are soft, remove the pot from heat and squeeze in your lemon. Use an immersion blender to pulse the soup until a slightly chunky texture is left. At this point, I reserve half the soup for kids.

For the adults (or kids who are happy with greens in their soup!), stir in the greens and chopped cilantro. The hot soup with wilt the greens and it’s ready to serve.