Easy Fall Squash Soup

Sometimes you just need an easy meal.  And this is it.

For the past few weeks, our house has been a hospital ward.  My sister-in-law and husband have both had foot surgery, so we have ice machines, scooters, crutches, pillows, blankets, Aspirin, Tylenol, Advil and a partridge in a pear tree.  At one point, I was joking about hanging a sign with a Red Cross out in front of the house.  Now, I’m thinking the sign should have a giant nut on it instead.

My SIL has been super easy, plus, I’ve had lots of help from family (my other, SIL, Rose has been on it since the first incision, and has since been renamed Nurse Ratched by someone who shall remain anonymous). My husband, however, is another story.

Me: You need to put ice on your foot.

Tim: I don’t want ice.  It’s too cold. (Note to self:  ice is cold.  You learn something new every day.)

Me:  You need to elevate your foot

Tim: It’s uncomfortable.  I don’t want to. (And I don’t want to have this discussion with you for the 137th time, but here we are)

Me: You need to rest.

Tim: It’s been two days since the surgery, I need to go to work.

Me: Believe me, I’d like you to go to work too, but I like the people you work with too much to subject them to you right now.

Tim: I need my glasses.  No.  Not those, the other ones.

Me:  You have, like six pairs here, which ones exactly are the other ones?

Tim:  The ones on the dresser.

Me: There are no glasses on the dresser

Tim: I’ll get up and get them myself.

Me: By all means, delay your recovery by aggravating your foot.   This is so much fun having you home.

And so, in between getting glasses and trying to keep him from killing himself, I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to cook.  This soup was perfect to make, since it is largely unattended and gave me plenty of time to call the doctor and see if I could get a prescription for Valium…for me!

Ingredients:

• 1 butternut squash
• 2 delicata squash
• 1-2 honey nut squash
• 1 large leek
• cinnamon
• zest from one orange
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• 1 gala apple (cored)
• 1 package silken tofu, drained
• 1-2 cups almond milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. On a large sheet pan, splash a bit of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
3. Cut all the squash in half and scoop out the seeds.  Place face down on the sheet pan and rub the halves in the oil/cinnamon/S &P mixture. You can also use a pastry brush to rub the mixture into the cavity of the squash as well.   Cut the leek in half and rinse well to remove any grit.  Dry it off a bit and put the two halves on the pan with the squash, rubbing it in the oil mixture as well.
4. Put the pan in the oven, and roast till each of the squash are done, removing from the oven to cool and letting the larger squash continue to cook.  The honeynut squash will take 20-30 minutes, the delicate and leek about 30-40 minutes and the butternut squash should take about 40-50 minutes.  They are done when you can insert a sharp knife or fork into the squash and it is soft.
5. When the squash has cooled enough, put it into a high speed blender along with the tofu, apple (I put it in skin and all– but not the core) and 1 cup of almond milk.  Puree till smooth, then transfer to a pot to gently reheat it on the stove.  You may have to work in batches since everything will be too much for your blender in one big batch.  Depending on how thick you like your soup, you may want to add the additional cup of almond milk.
6. Store any leftovers in the fridge.  The tofu will make it really firm up, so when you reheat it, you may want to add a bit of water or almond milk to get it more “soupy”.

Enjoy!