curried squash soup

I love to experiment with my cooking, and because I haven't any official culinary training I often skim through recipes and figure out what I can make with what I have on hand.  Today I had an huge acorn squash that has hung out long enough on my kitchen counter....it had been there for weeks, showing no signs of age.  It was time for me to do something with this beautiful vegetable...why not soup?!

Now before I get too far into this recipe, I should mention that I did not measure my spices or ingredients...I just eyeballed them (the experiment) so I recommend you season to your taste.  This soup turned out mild but flavourful...perfect for our young family (with sensitive taste buds).

First I roasted the acorn squash and 1 onion @ 350 degrees F for 45 min.  stirring once.
drizzle veggies with 2 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle with seasonings*
 
*seasonings :
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp coriander
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp sugar
- pinch of salt and pepper

roasted acorn squash and onion

 Once the roasted veggies are cool, I put them in my OmniBlend V blender, covered to the top with water (put the lid on) and pureed using the 35 second button.

fill water to the top of the roasted veggies

blend until smooth (I used 35 sec. button)

 I then filled the blender container with aprox. 2-3 cups water and once again put the lid on, and used the low button for a few seconds to loosen all the remaining puree...I USE THIS IN THE SOUP AS WELL...don't want to have any of that goodness go to waste, and it saves me time from scraping the sides of the container with my rubber spatula.

Next, I added the remaining ingredients** (again, I forgot to measure) and  brought to a boil for aprox. 5 min. then reduced to low and let slowly cook (aprox. 30 min.).  Stir every so often to prevent grains sticking to the bottom of the pan.

...you may need to add more water, salt and pepper, hot sauce, etc...all to your own taste and texture.

**remaining ingredients:

- 3 - 4 C water
- 1 can light coconut milk (or 1/2 can c reg. coconut milk + 1/2 can water)
- 2/3 C quinoa
- 2/3 C brown rice
- 1 carrot sliced
- 1 med. potato cubed
- 1 C precooked chickpeas
- 1 tbsp curry powder (mild)
- 1 tsp ginger powder (use fresh if you have it)
- 1/4 - 1/2 tsp Panang Curry Paste (A Taste Of Thai)...my kids find this seasoning very spicy, so I used very little...Nick and I like it with more zip, but we want our kids to eat dinner too, so we settled for less, but the flavour is still really nice.
- S & P to taste

combine remaining ingredients and puree in soup pot and cook until tender

ENJOY!