Don’t you just love seasonal produce? It is something marvellous about eating that which has just been freshly harvested and turning it into a meal. It makes you feel in tune with nature as well as the distant past, when eating seasonally was all that one could do.
Not soooo long ago, I can cast my memory back to the Swedish food shops I used to visit as a child. Tinned meats and jars of pickles were piled high and non-perishables ruled. Fresh vegetables were limited to a couple of baskets of potatoes (boring), tomatoes (squidgy), leeks (what child likes a leek?) and apples (bruised). Not too inspiring in other words. We ate a lot of processed foods in those days. Ham, sausages, meatballs and a lot of cheeses :). No wonder my Greenswede days came much later – who knew food could be fun?
Fast forward to today when we are living in wondeful foody times, with supermarkets brimming with varied produce and farmers markets being more prolific than ever. Organic farming is on the up and home delivery box schemes common place. How lucky are we? This month sees the harvest of wonderful Autumn fruit and veg such as fennel, squashes (love all the coloured ones) and kale, as well as black berries, apples and pears. So get cooking and juicing – all the ingredients are here.
Without any further ado, today’s recipe is a wonderful and warming soup with two of my most favorite ingredients, squash and sweet potato, both currently in season, to get you in the mood for chilly autumn nights.
Coconut soup with squash and sweet potato
(Serves 4 )
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 1 small orange squash (or butternut or both)
- 4 carrots
- 1/2 can of coconut milk
- 1 small onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 thumb turmeric root (or ground turmeric)
- salt and pepper to flavour
- pinch of paprika
- coconut oil or organic rapeseed oil for cooking
- herbs for garnishing
How to:
Chop all veg into cubes and put aside. Gently fry the onions and spices for a couple of minutes until softened and fragrant then add the chopped vegetables. Make sure you’ve removed the seeds of the squash first :). Add 1 pint of vegetable stock (or some left over bonebroth which makes an excellent and nutritious stock) and bring to a boil. Let simmer on a gentle heat for about 15 min or until all root veg is soft, add the coconut milk and cook for another few minutes. Liquidise until smooth and serve with sprinkled dried chili flakes and herbs of your choice. I like coriander or parsely.
I hope you enjoy it! x
Much love,
Birgitta xx