It seems that many people are getting the sniffles, with this confusing weather/seasons changing we’ve been having! I wanted to wait a couple of days before posting again, but it seems the world needs this soup!
When I was at theater school, and everyone was overworked, I learned about at amazing tea that helps kick a cold, as I had no time to spare. It’s made with ginger (which is antibacterial)–see the tea recipe at the bottom.
I’ve created a food that is inspired by the cold fighting power of ginger and vitamin c. I know many people (formerly myself included), gravitate towards orange juice when you’re not feeling great, but that’s not the best idea. While OJ packs some vitamin c, it’s very high in sugar, so when you drink it your body will be focusing on what to do with all that sugar, instead of trying to get better. Make this soup instead!
Ingredients
- fresh ginger (at least 2 cubic inches, or more…if you can handle it!)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 butternut squash
- 2 cups carrots, shredded
- 1/2 medium/large onion, diced
- any seasoning you’d like (I used some Southwest Chipotle Mrs. Dash, and red pepper flakes)
How to:
- Preheat oven to 350
- roast your butternut squash (cut in half, scoop seeds, and cover halves in tin foil). Bake until tender, about 1.5-2 hours
- In a big soup pot: sweat* carrots, onions, and garlic
- when butternut squash is ready, remove from oven, and let it cool, so it’s safe to handle
- when it’s cool, scoop out the squash, and add it to the pot
- add water to the pot so it just covers all the ingredients**
- cover and simmer for 10 minutes
- Put on an apron to prepare yourself for:
- Immersion blending! *** (although I bought my immersion blender for smoothies, soups are by far my favorite use now)
*sweat means to cook at a low temperature…I do this for 5-10 minutes, until onions get a bit soft)
**I add this much water, because I like my soup thick and creamy. If you want a thinner soup, simply add more water…if you add too much water, you can let it simmer after blending, and decide your optimum texture
***if you don’t have an immersion blender, let the soup cool, and spoon it into a regular blender
And now, for the TEA:
Drink this all day, between your soup meals.
- boil about an inch of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped, for about ten minutes
- squeeze in half a lemon
- add some honey.
It tastes like super-strong, natural home-made Neocitron.
Get better everyone! Do you have any homemade cold-fighting recipes?
Oh wow, what a warming and colourful soup. This looks seriously great. I think I need to crack out the squash recipes next week! Now we’re getting properly into autumn.
Yeah, I’m on a squash roll! I’ve got one more squash recipe in mind for to complete this series…one or two. It’s so versatile!
You read my mind – butternut squash soup is on my list of things to make this week. I think I’m going to try it with cashew cream. YUM. Ginger sounds like an interesting addition! Also, you’re making me jealous with all this immersion blender talk. Gotta get me one of those!
Ooo, I’ve never tried cashew cream. I’ll look out for your recipe. You can get a decent immersion blender for pretty cheap. I think I only spent about $20 on mine, and I’ve had it for…7 years, I think!
I definitely want to try your ginger tea!
I’m getting sick and was searching for vegetarian get-well soups. I made your soup with about 4-5 inches of ginger (spicy!) and love it. It’s really soothing on my sore throat and I’m hoping it helps kick the bug quickly. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!!!
Hi Heather! So glad the soup helped. Ginger is amazing. I also just like to boil a lot of ginger in some water, add some lemon and honey and drink that all day when I feel a cold coming on. Feel better soon!
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