Curried Pumpkin Soup

A wonderful, seasonal soup.

I love pumpkin-flavored everything. Normally this time of year, I would be getting pumpkin-spice lattes, pumpkin bread and muffins, and anything else pumpkin-flavored at the store or coffee-shop.

But this is my first fall with food allergies. And neither the bread nor the lattes are necessarily safe for me to have. Last month, I drank a soy pumpkin-spiced chai tea that made me sick for a couple days. I was told later that chai sometimes has gluten in it. Today I went up to the counter at Starbucks and asked if there was gluten in their pumpkin spice flavor. Thankfully, the barista knew that there was, so I did not order that. My fall is not ruined by the lack of pumpkin spice, however!

I made a big batch of pumpkin puree (following this tutorial) and with it I have been making my own pumpkin baked goods. The best thing I've made so far, though, is curried pumpkin soup. It is delicious, filling, and just happens to be gluten free and vegan (unless you use chicken broth). It has just the right touch of coconut and curry flavors. My squash-ambivalent spouse liked it a lot, too. I consider that a success!

Curried Pumpkin Soup

2 Tbs olive oil

3-4 peeled garlic cloves

1 medium carrot

1 medium yellow onion

2 cups broth or water (chicken is good, use vegetable to make it vegan)

1 pound pumpkin puree (a 15-ounce can of puree is fine)

½ can of coconut milk

1 ½ tsp curry powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

a sprinkle each of nutmeg and cinnamon

Heat the olive oil at medium in a saucepan. Roughly chop the garlic, and saute in the oil for about three minutes. 

Briefly saute the garlic

Give the onion and carrot a rough chop, and add them to the saucepan. 

Carrots and onions

Stir the vegetables for about a minute, then add the broth (or water) to the pan. Bring it to a boil on high heat, then reduce heat to medium. Simmer the broth for 20-30 minutes, until the onion and carrot are soft.

Turn off the heat, and let the pan cool at least five minutes. Add the vegetables and broth to a blender, but avoid filling the blender more than half full. You may need to do this in batches. If you are using homemade pumpkin puree and you have not previously run it through a food processor, add it to the blender too. Blend the contents until the soup is as smooth as you prefer.

This was probably a little too full, as I have heard that blending hot food can cause explosions if the blender if full. That is one reason to let the soup cool a bit.

Pour the blender contents back into the saucepan. If you have a compulsion not to waste the food on the sides of cans, blenders, etc. like I do, swish a little bit of water around the blender to help remove the pureed vegetables and pour it into the saucepan.

Add the coconut milk and spices to the saucepan. Heat over medium for 10-15 minutes to allow the flavors to mingle. You may want to add a little bit of water to the soup if it is too thick at this point.

Mixing in the coconut milk. You can use lite coconut milk if you are worried about calories.

 I had to add probably a half cup of water to make it my desired consistency.

It is a delicious soup. Make it now!

Butternut Squash soup

I have been absent for about two months. I am sorry, and I don't have a good excuse besides that it is my senior year of college and I am a biology major. Or maybe that is a good excuse. Hmm.

Anyway, butternut squash soup! It is made of win. And squash.

You know it is November when you are filling out your ballot and making this soup (not at the same time).

I adapted this recipe from the crockpot lady, mostly because I had to make dinner between two classes today, and didn't have time to use a crockpot. But she is fabulous and you should read her blog if you own a crockpot, or even if you don't.

Obtain a butternut squash, cut it lengthwise (this is difficult, you;ll need a hefty knife) and put it in a roasting pan in a 375 degree oven for 35 minutes, or until the flesh is soft.

Meanwhile, cut up two apples (fuji or something similar is best, I used granny smith and the soup was a bit too tart for me) and a medium onion into 1 inch pieces (no need to be precise).

Let the squash cool until you can handle it safely (I did not, hence the potholder. Don't be impatient like me.) Then scoop out the flesh.


Put the onion, apple, and squash into a stockpot and and 32 ounces of broth (chicken or vegetable) in the pot. Season with 1/2 tsp pepper, a pinch of salt, and a sprinkle of nutmeg. Bring the pot to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer the covered pot for 25 minutes.

Let the soup cool slightly, and then blend in small batches until the soup is as pureed as you like it. Reheat if necessary, then serve.

This is Free_the_Radicals attempt at fancy food photography. Though the sprinkle of nutmeg and drizzle of olive oil is delicious.

This was quite tasty, though a bit too tart. I think next time I will either use one apple, or two small fuji's. But still good!

Pseudo-Cantonese spicy chicken soup

So even though this is a recipe that I invented by throwing things together, and indeed, change the ingredients of every time, I did the unthinkable: I measured (almost) everything. Just for you.



Almost a decade ago, now, I spent some time in China, mostly in Hong Kong. It is a beautiful city, and I enjoyed my time there. Unfortunately, due to circumstances that would take a lot of time to explain, the team I went with ate local cuisine (that is, not McDonalds or bread and fruit bought at a grocery store) maybe once or twice in almost a month. I consider this a great tragedy, as Cantonese food is delicious.

The one time I distinctly remember eating out was a little hole-in-the-wall eatery in one of the many malls. Because the menus were written in Chinese, I just ordered the first thing that didn't sound too spicy or too strange for my 12-year-old palate (pig intestines was one of the options I remember).

I ended up ordering a giant delicious bowl of soup with some kind of sausage, vegetables, and tons of thin noodles that were either mung bean threads or rice noodles. It was also way spicier then anything I eat in America (I am a total hot sauce wimp) but it was so delicious I didn't care.

This recipe was evolved out of multiple attempts to try and recreate the tasty spicy soup with noodles.

Please note that I say "pseudo-Cantonese" because lets face it, I don't know much about Chinese cuisine except that it is delicious.

Here is everything you will need. (The coffee is not a part of this cast of characters. i just have a tiny kitchen is all)

1 Qt chicken broth
1 chicken breast
1/3 package of bean threads or rice noodles (this is the one thing I did not measure. Sorry)
1/2 red bell pepper
1 carrot
3-4 mushrooms
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
1-2 tsp sirracha or other hot chili sauce (be careful, this stuff burns!)
1 tsp soy sauce

Begin by soaking the bean threads or rice noodles in a bowl of cold water. Set aside.

Heat a quart of chicken (or whatever-flavored) broth in a saucepan over high. In the mean time, cut all the veggies into strips like these:

Normally I use about a quarter of a cabbage instead of the 1/2 bell pepper, but I didn't want to make another grocery trip. Celery is also good.

Put the veggies into the boiling broth, and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the sweet chili sauce, sirracha, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce.

Meanwhile, slice the chicken into thin strips like this. Beef is also good, and I bet tofu would be too.
Put the meat into the pot and stir. The liquid should be hot enough that the chicken will be cooked in a minute or two.

The purpose of cutting the meat and the veggies so thin is twofold: they will cok very quickly, and it's easier to eat with chopsticks this way.

When the vegetables are soft and the meat is cooked (6-8 minutes of total cooking time if you are more coordinated then me) add the drained noodles, and allow to heat for 1-2 minutes.

Then serve and eat with chopsticks, it somehow tastes better that way!

Serves three.