2013 – Gluten Free Living

Wow, does this Curried Apple and Acorn Squash Soup have heat! This lovely vegan and gluten free soup  recipe is highly seasoned with curry powder, cilantro, and cayenne pepper. If you like hot, spicy soups the tantalizing aromas  and taste of this spicy food will send you over the edge. It’s fantastic!

I was looking for a savory curry-flavored soup last week as a way to use up acorn squash. I had in mind some of the things I wanted to put in the recipe and some of the spices I wanted to use but I could never find any one recipe that had it all. Instead, I found two recipes here and here, both of which were part of my inspiration for this recipe.

This recipe is rather easy to prepare. The soup is filled with carrots, apples, and acorn squash. I used coconut oil and coconut milk in the recipe so it’s completely vegan. If you’re not vegan you can top the soup with Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt and snipped chives like in the pictures below. Otherwise, if you are vegan you can garnish the soup with salt, pepper, and snipped cilantro or some other garnish as desired.

So if you like a lot of heat  in your soups consider giving this one a try. It’s a nice hot, spicy soup for cold winter nights. Serve with gluten free rolls or crackers if desired.

Here I’ve garnished the soup with Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt, and snipped chives. If you’re vegan you can omit the yogurt and use snipped chives and snipped cilantro. These are great toppings also.

This soup has a lot of heat. If you don’t like spicy hot soups you can reduce the curry powder and cayenne pepper.

This hot, spicy soup is good for what ails you! Don’t forget to share some with your family members!

On the other hand, if  you like heat in your soups you can increase the spices even more!

Here’s what I did.

Bake acorn squashes about an hour at 350. Cut in half. Remove pulp and seeds and discard. Remove squash from shell and set aside.

Place a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil in a large stock pot.

Melt coconut oil over a medium heat.

Slice up a leek. Cut off the bottom and all of the dark green leafy top portion.

Here I’ve cut off the bottom and the top green portion. Wash leek thoroughly to get out any sand between layers.

Slice leek and put in stock pot to saute.

Chop up one large onion and add to stock pot.

Add carrot chips.

Add diced apples. I used one Gala apple and one Granny Smith apple.

Core apples. Dice and place Granny Smith apples in pan. Saute.

Here I’ve added the diced Gala apples. I left the apples unpeeled so all the nutrients would be intact. Once you use your emulsion blender you won’t even notice the peels.

Add one tablespoon minced garlic from a jar.

Red curry powder is quite a bit stronger than regular curry powder. I used 1 teaspoon here and added another teaspoon later because I didn’t think the soup was hot enough.

Here I’ve sprinkled the curry powder over top of the apples.

I’ve stirred the mixture together.

I added a quart of vegetable broth.

Stir all ingredients together. I simmered the mixture over medium heat for about 30 minutes.

Add a teaspoon of kosher salt.

Add a half teaspoon of black pepper.

Mash baked squash.

Here’s what the soup mixture looks like before adding squash.

Now I’ve added the squash.

I’ve stirred all the ingredients together and it look like this.

I added a cup of coconut milk.

Stir in the coconut milk to mixture.

Originally I only added 1 teaspoon of red curry powder. I didn’t feel that was enough so I added an additional teaspoon here and also a few dashes of cayenne pepper.

Here I’ve added cayenne pepper.

Here I’ve added another teaspoon of red curry powder. If you don’t like hot, spicy soups don’t add this much curry or cayenne.

Here I’ve added more curry powder.

Here is a batch of cilantro.

I washed the cilantro and removed it from the stems.

Here I’ve chopped the cilantro.

I’ve added cilantro to the soup and continue cooking about 15 more minutes.

Here’s a look at the soup after cooking a little longer. This enables the spices to penetrate the soup. 

I used an emulsion blender to puree all the ingredients together.

To serve the soup I’ve dolloped some Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt and added snipped chives. The yogurt is great to cool the heat a little. But if you’re vegan simply omit this and garnish as desired.

This soup is spicy hot with lots of curry and cayenne. You can add more if you like a lot of heat, or add less if you don’t prefer quite so much heat.

Here’s a close up so you can see the  texture of this marvelous soup.

If you like hot spicy soups, this delicious Curried Apple and Acorn Squash Soup is a great, healthy, low calorie, vegan, and gluten free option.

If you love spicy soups you’ll love this delicious soup. Very warm and comforting on cold winter nights!

Here’s the recipe.

CURRIED APPLE AND ACORN SQUASH SOUP

(Recipe inspired from “Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Soup” at Not Eating Out in NY, and “Acorn Squash Soup” at cooks.com)

3 tbsp. coconut oil

1 leek, green top removed, sliced

1 large onion, chopped

8-oz. crinkle cut carrots (carrot chips)

1 Granny Smith apple, unpeeled, cored, diced

1 Gala apple, unpeeled, cored, diced

2 tsp. red curry powder (this really has kick – use 1 tsp. if you’re not used to curry powder)

1 tsp. kosher salt

½ tsp. pepper

Several dashes cayenne pepper

32-oz. vegetable juice

2 acorn squash roasted, seeds, pulp, and skin removed

1 cup coconut milk

½ cup cilantro, chopped

Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt for garnish, if desired

snipped chives for garnish, if desired

snipped cilantro for garnish, if desired

Roast acorn squash in oven until baked at 350 – approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool slightly. Cut in half, remove seeds and pulp. Remove squash from shell and set aside. In large stock pot place coconut oil. Heat over medium heat. Add sliced leeks, chopped onions, carrot chips and apples. Sauté about 5 minutes. Add curry powder (red curry powder has twice the heat of regular curry so go easy until you get to your desired taste), salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and vegetable juice. Simmer about 30 minutes until vegetables are soft. Stir in squash, cilantro and coconut milk. Simmer another 10 or 15 minutes. Cool. Use blender or emulsion blender to puree soup until well blended. Serves 6-8 servings.

This is a great vegan soup recipe but if you’re not vegan you can substitute butter and cream for the coconut oil and coconut milk in the recipe.

This is a great low calorie, healthy, gluten free option. 

If you and your family like hot, spicy soups your family will love this great soup.

Garnish this soup with some yogurt to cool your palate slightly.

I’ve saved a bowl for you! Come join me.

You may also like these recipes:

Sweet and Savory Butternut Squash Soup

Vegan Apple and Sweet Potato Soup

Spicy Vegan Butternut Squash Soup

Vegan Pumpkin Soup with Leeks, Pears and Apples

Sweet Potato Soup with Ginger, Leek, and Apple

Butternut Squash-Bartlett Pear Soup

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