Foodie Friday: Kabocha squash soup

Kabocha squash

For our Christmas Eve Potluck, I decided to try a new recipe. I got this from a Farmer's Market lady (Barbi Anderson) a few weeks ago when she set up her stall outside of Jojoba Hills RV Resort (near Temecula, CA). I bought a kabocha squash (not to be confused with kombucha tea!) from her and she also gave me the recipe for a wonderful soup with this unusual squash. I got some other great stuff from her, too. Like persimmons and guava. I've never seen or eaten them fresh before, so that was a fun adventure. Plus I got some sage honey which I've never had before. It has a distinctive taste that I really like.

For the potluck in addition to the soup, I made a veggie tray, a green salad with my homemade honey mustard dressing, some sweet potatoes, chicken drumsticks with veggies in the pressure cooker, Avocado Grasshoppers, and some gluten free, grain free brownies with real whipped cream on the side. I wasn't the only one fixing food, but I wanted to have a variety I could eat and share with others. Of course we couldn't eat it all, so I enjoyed leftovers for the next several days. Win!

Roasted Kabocha Squash Soup (From Barbie Anderson)

Makes 4-6 servings
1 medium to large kabocha squash (or butternut)
1/2 onion
3 cloves garlic
2-4 cups organic chicken or vegetable broth
1 can coconut milk
sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place squash whole on the baking sheet and roast for 35-45 minutes or until you can easily poke it with a fork. Remove and let cool before you slice open, scoop out seeds, and add flesh to your blender.
Optional step: in the meantime, add a bit of olive oil to a medium stockpot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic to sauté (and any other veggies here – like carrots, zucchini, red peppers - if you’d like). Let cook for 5 minutes until translucent.
Add onions, garlic, 1 can of coconut milk, broth, sea salt and pepper to a blender.
Puree until smooth, adding more broth if you prefer a thinner consistency.
Serve warm, with toppings of your choice (whole milk Greek yogurt, rice crackers, avocado, chia or pumpkin seeds, arugula, kale, or pesto).

    I cooked my squash in the Sun Oven, and I didn't look at the recipe again until after I had already cut it open and scooped out the seeds. Oops! It cooked up beautifully anyway. I also cooked a butternut squash at the same time and together they took a little more than 2 hours to cook at the lower temp, but they were nice and moist. I also added carrots, zucchini, celery, and red pepper to the onions and shallots (instead of garlic). Totally worth the extra step! I used my Bamix stick blender in the pan once everything was in it, and it worked great. I think I would peel the zucchini first next time. I could see bits of the peel which isn't as pretty as I would have liked it to be. The flavor was amazing and I love how thick it was. It made great left-overs, too.
     Barbi suggested I wash and soak the seeds overnight and bake them the next day. Baking them in the oven would have been easier than pan frying them, as I had to stand and stir them quite a bit so they wouldn't burn, but it was worth it! Because of a windy day, the Sun Oven was not an option, and I didn't want to turn on the generator in order to bake them, so I had this stirring experience. <<wink, wink!>> It didn't take me long to eat them all, they were so good. I'm definitely going to look for this squash again. It just might be my new favorite! I love discovering new foods I can eat.

Nick and Jerry relaxing after a great meal.  The food talbe is behind Jerry, but I didn't get a good pic of that.

Vera and Delores and I looking pretty Christmasy!