Soup's On The Menu...

J just got his wisdom teeth out over the weekend which meant we needed some creativity for food.  Fruit cups can get pretty boring...

On the menu?   Soup, soup, and more soup.  Considering this fall was the first time I conquered my own soup, this is a proud, proud day.

Day 1:  Pumpkin Soup
So, I accidentally used one of the big 28oz cans of pumpkin rather than the called-for 14oz. I didn't love this soup, but Jon did...which is all that mattered.  This lasted him through a few meals and was filling!

Ingredients
1 diced onion
3 tbsp of margarine
2 cups of broth (I used 2 tsp of chicken bouillon in boiling water)
1 can of coconut milk
1 can of pumpkin
1/2 tsp of cumin
1/2 tsp of curry powder
1/2 tsp of ginger

salt


1.  Saute onion for 3 - 5 minutes in some olive oil.
2.  Add all ingredients in the pot and simmer for 15 minutes.

Day 2:  Curried Squash Soup
 This recipe comes in variations, but this one was made as "chunk-free" as possible for the post-wisdom teeth recovery.  My friend made this before with chunks of fresh ginger and scallions and it was delish!

So here it is.  This was amazing.  My two friends helped me throw this one together. We ended up having an impromptu dinner party, with not a lot of food, so we poured OUR soup over rice to make it more filling!

Ingredients
 olive oil
1 butternut squash (I bought the stuff that is already cut.  It's in the produce section next to the coleslaw)

1 onion
1 big garlic clove
1/2 tbsp of curry powder
1/2 tbsp of ginger powder
2 cups of broth (again, I used 2 tsp of chicken boiuillon in 2 cups of boiling water)
1 tsp of maple sugar
3/4 of salt
1 can of coconut milk
1 tbsp of lemon juice
 

How-To
1.  In a pot, combine oil, onion, garlic, ginger and curry. Cook for 1 minute.
2.  Pour in broth.  Bring to a boil.
3.  Mix in squash, sugar and salt.  Lower heat and let simmer.  Cook for 30 minutes.
4.  Remove any excess broth (if it completely covers the squash).
5.  Pour in coconut milk and let simmer for 5 minutes.
6.  Stir in lemon juice.
7.  Pour mixture - in small batches - into blender to puree.

DONE!

Homemade Tomato Soup
Okay, so squash and pumpkin are both very delicious, but it's we were in need of something on the tangy side of things. Luckily, I was able to throw something together using ingredients I had in my kitchen!

Ingredients
14 oz can of diced tomatoes (half of those massive cans)
1/2 can of coconut milk
olive oil
garlic
1/2 onion (I only had red)
1/2 tsp of pepper
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of corn starch
Garnish with basil 

1.  Cook onion, garlic, and oil in a small pot for a few minutes.
2.  Add all other ingredients (except basil) and simmer on low for 30 minutes.
3.  It's up to you what you'd like to do at this point, but I poured everything in the blender (didn't puree it completely) and put it back into the pot to simmer for a few minutes.

This was a major hit!