Ingredients:
- Squash (2 cups)(any kind, Spaghetti, Acorn or Butternut work great)
- Coconut milk (1 can or meat and milk from a young coconut)
- Nuts (1 cup, walnuts, cashews, almonds, hazelnuts etc)
- Onion (1 smallish, ¼ cup, any kind)
- Lemon Juice (1/2 fresh squeezed medium or 1/6 cup Verjus)
- Garlic (2 big bulbs)
- Cinnamon (grated 2 tbs)
- Olive oil (1/4 cup, use a good one)(Can be omitted)
- Water (for desired thickness)
- Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
The nuts do not have to be soaked for this one. Coconut milk in a can is not raw. This works best using the milk and meat from a young coconut but these can be hard to find. Young coconuts are easy to open once you know how. There are good Youtube videos to show you. Coconuts are another food that cannot be grown locally in North America. Fair trade coconuts are very hard to find. Canned coconut milk is probably not very healthy but is easy to find. My locavoreism is not 100% yet.
Grate the cinnamon from dried cinnamon sticks. Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor except the oil. Add oil for the last 4 seconds. Blend to desired thickness. I often do not add water and stop blending while still slightly chunky. Sometimes I like a thinner soup and so blend for up to 3 minutes. Always remember to stop the blending from time to time to scrap down the walls of the food processor or blender. Any kind of onion works including green onion or leek. I do ginger instead of garlic sometimes. It is fun to experiment with different squashes; each expresses its own taste. Of course I often add turnips, carrots, golden beets, etc. (any vegetables lying around). The ingredients above make one large bowel. I often quadruple the amount and have lunches ready for the next few days. This dish keeps covered in the fridge quite well and tasty for up to 5 days. When making this dish, concentrate on the flavor of the squash and coconut interacting with hints of garlic, salt lemon, cinnamon and onion. This should be a celebration of fresh local grown squash. No photo as you know what soup looks like. Salud!
