Back when we did the Fall Retreat, I made a creamy butternut squash soup, a warm roasted roots salad, and pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies.
When I have an idea to make something(food, craft, anything), I usually review a few tutorials of those who have gone before me, then take some serious liberties to make it my own. Except for when it comes to baking. I usually follow those recipes exactly as written, because that is science.
So, I have done my best to recall the process for the first 2 items, and I found the original recipe I used for the cookies. Woohoo!!
Whatever you make this season, I hope you remember to add the #1 key ingredient: LOVE. To add this in abundance, I try to think ridicuously happy thoughts about the people I am cooking for. This can be done while chopping, stirring, whisking, waiting, plating… enjoy!
Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
This soup was amazing. I had a plan, but when it boiled down to it, there didn’t seem to be enough soup to go around. ENTER: the surprise secret ingredient. I was hesitant at first, but after one taste, was sure that it ended up making the whole thing just right.
INGREDIENTS
1-2 butternut squash, cubed
2 sweet potatoes, cubed
1 sweet onion, chunked
1 whole garlic, skinned
1 red bell pepper
2 tbsp coconut oil (or any roasting oil of your choice)
1 32 oz container low sodium veggie stock
1 inch of ginger
1 half bunch of cilantro
1 jar Red curry paste (I used Thai Kitchen)
1 can coconut milk (I used Polar Organic)
1 can of Amy’s Golden Lentil soup
PROCESS
- Heat oven to 425 degrees. Coat the squash, sweet potatoes, onion, garlic, and bell pepper in the coconut oil and spread in a single layer on sheet pans. Roast for 25 minutes.
- Put roasted veggies, ginger and cilantro in large pot with all veggie stock, bring to a gentle boil.
- Blend chunky veggie soup mixture with Vitamix or immersion blender until super SMOOTH.
- Add back to pot with red curry paste and coconut milk. Mix well and bring to simmer.
- Evaluate flavor and amount of soup. At this point I had no more broth or veggies I could add, but I felt like it was not enough volume of soup to serve 8 people. So I raided my pantry and found the closest flavor compliment: the Amy’s soup.
- Add the Amy’s soup with reckless abandon. Blend well and heat to simmer.
*I will say it again, though I wasn’t expecting to add the Amy’s soup, I feel like it was the “secret key ingredient”. It brought all the right flavors to the table and I was very happy with the way it stretched my soup to the proper serving amount.
Roasted Roots Salad
This warm salad is the perfect blend for a fall menu. It could be served cold, if that is your style.
INGREDIENTS
4 large beets, cubed
4 large carrots, cut to 1/2 slices
1 red onion, chopped
1 large pack of baby portabella mushrooms, thick sliced
1 whole garlic, skinned & sliced
2 tbsp grapeseed oil (or your preferred roasting oil)
1 bunch of kale (I used a large bag of prewashed and chopped from HEB)
2 cups of quinoa (I used Truroots Quick cook blend)
Balsamic vinaigrette dressing (I used La Tourangelle)
Roasted pumpkin seeds
PROCESS
- Heat oven to 425 degrees. Coat the beets, carrots, red onion, mushrooms, and garlic cloves with roasting oil. Roast for 25 minutes.
- Add roasted veggies into a large pot with a dash of water to create steam. Add kale and cook down, mixing as it softens.
- Add quinoa and desired amount of dressing and mix well.
- Serve with a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds on top.
*I made this the night before, so kept it tightly foiled in the fridge. The day of serving, I put it in the oven and let it warm up at a low temp. It was perfect!
And finally…the cookies!
This “Chewy Pumpkin Snickerdoodle” cookie recipe was swiped from Cambrea Bakes. The brown butter makes these cookies AMAZING, so don’t skip that step. It is totally worth it. To find this recipe, click here!