Apparently my sweet healthy ladies (and one or two men who read me), you are all over the single pot meals. Who could blame you though really? What is better than throwing a whole heap of stuff into a pot, taking a good thirty minutes to take a bath, paint your nails, breathe through a few rounds of vinyasa, have a quiet contest with the people you share your house with, or even take a little cat-napper and come back to the kitchen to find dinner ready and only one pot (plus a bowl should you choose to use one) to wash? Nothing! Nothing is better than one pot meals.
I truly do love this recipe for the It’s A Meal Broccoli, Sweet Potato, Lentil Soup, but sometimes, we need to sweeten things up a bit with my fave inspiration of all- yeah yeah, you are tired of hearing about it already bit get over it ’cause I’m not tired of blabbering about it- the Caribbean! I also made just like I did when I was in the Carribs- no Vita Mix there! I left this one whole and chunkarrific, spices too.This soup, though every little thing is available just about anywhere, the spices add a little something to an old classic. That’s right my dear friends, we added some chai-like spices to this soup which makes it
1. Extra powered amazing.
2. Extra powered healing.
3. Extra powered immune boosting.
4. Extra powered different than normal
5. Extra powered cool (see 4.)
What do we add that is so great? Clove (which you know heaps about from here), plus oodles of ginger, cinnamon, garlic and colourful veggies. Consider this your cheat sheet on these spices, but really, I expect you to know about this goodness by now. As for the soup itself, if you don’t have all the goods, improvise! Though with fresh as the new day spices available from Taste Spice, there is really no excuse not to have these spices stocked.
It’s A Meal Caribbean Spice Squash Soup
2 Tbs coconut oil
3-4 cups of pumpkin, winter squash or sweet potato, cubed
1 turnip (optional but I had one), sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 cup celery
2 cups yellow chard, kale or collards, thinly sliced
2 Tbs fresh ginger, grated
3 cloves garlic
1 Tbs yellow mustard seeds
1 Tbs coriander seeds (whole or ground)
2 Tbs turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 Cinnamon sticks
pinch of clove
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of cayenne
sea salt to taste
water as needed
1/2 cup dry quinoa + 1 cup of water
- Heat coconut oil in pot
- Add onion, garlic, ginger and spices and heat until fragrant but not burning for goodness sake. You may need to add water if things get sticky.
- Add the remaining vegetables except your leafy greens and enough water to just cover about an inch.
- While the soup is simmering, cook your quinoa in a separate pot. Rinse the quinoa first please.
- Once the pumpkin/squash is tender, add the leafy greens and allow the pot to sit covered with the stove off.
- Mix in the grains and enjoy! (You might like to remove the cinnamon sticks or offer a prize to whoever scores one in their bowl of soup- though I think a whole cinnamon stick is prize enough!)
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This soup looks satisfying and super delicious! I love the beautiful gold color from the tumeric, perfect to brighten up the gray!
Jes- it looks that way because it pretty much is!
I was lucky enough to sample the soup one cold day last week. While on my way into my studio above Meghan’s, I popped in and lo and behold the perfect dish to satisfy my post yoga empty stomach. Delicious. I will puree it so dad doesn’t need to know what all is in it.
Pumpkin plus coconut milk equals deliciousness.
Mmmm, looks gorgeous and like just what I need right now!!!
How do you feel about using canned pumpkin, as it’s what I have on hand…
Canned anything gets a big old ‘Meh’ from me. I would sooner use squash or sweet potato and save the canned pumpkin for something more desserty where health building is not the focus. Then to make it confusing, I’ll say that if it is what you have… better than nothing! Clear answers are not my thing.
YUMMY! I want to come for dinner.
Looks delicious, Meghan! I’ll probably make it over the weekend since they are calling for 20+ inches of snow here (just got 10 inches on Saturday!)… oh, and throw in another 2-4 inches they are calling for tonight — enough already, I say
And LOVE one pot meals!!!
Patsy, had to laugh at your comment about pureeing the soup
too funny. By the way, the last time I put a soup with turmeric in my VitaMix, it stained it yellow.
SO much snow! You should come up to Toronto. Almost tropical up here in Canada
I’m making this right now. It smells SO good!
My only mods are:
ground ginger – my fresh was moldy
ground mustard – no seeds on hand
added some small creamer potatoes – didn’t have enough squash
added some carrots to round out the mirepoix
50 quinoa / 50 millet just because I can
For those that like to puree their soups, I suggest a stick/immersion blender. I have a cheapo ($30) Braun and it is among my most used kitchen appliances. It sure beats flinging hot soup on yourself because of using the Vita-Mix or food processor.
Yay… you used the word “mirepoix’. Awesome points for you!
nikki, yes, an immersion blender is on my wish list (and a dehydrator too!)
Okay, I made this soup last night…
I decided to blend it. Bad mistake! There are so many spicy seeds in it that are broken up through blending that the soup was just way way too strong and made me feel uber sick (and my boyfriend was a casualty too). Yes, I double checked that I put the right quantities!
I just wanted to let people know that it is very intense when blended
My momma blended it and had no problems…. Hmmmm.
[...] What does this soup that eats like a meal [...]
Holy moley!
I just made this soup today and it was AWESOME!!!
To Blaine who found it too spicy…maybe you didn’t add enough water so it was really concentrated?
I actually added a little extra spice and think it’s incredible! Thanks Meghan!
Hi Meghan, I got introduced to your website recently and I love both the timbre and the information. This is the first recipe of yours that I’ve tried, and I’m sad to say that my family found it inedible–the mustard overpowered them! I think it’s too strong also, but I’ll eat it. I don’t want 10 cups of soups to go to waste! However, I’m wondering if you have any suggestions for doctoring it up and muting the mustard a bit.
I am so sorry to hear that! I rarely have people have unfortunate experiences with my recipes. You could always add more water to it but without tasting your batch- it would be hard for me to suggest different seasonings. If you like it- just freeze some and save for another day.