The View From Great Island

I love cookbooks. Especially when they have wonderful pictures to go with the recipes. Although, I guess that’s why I love food blogs so much too, huh? Unfortunately, since my love affair with food blogs and Pinterest has grown, my cookbook collection has grown a bit of dust. This month’s Recipe Redux made me wipe off that dust and flip through so real pages.

It’s the end of the year and we’ll taking a moment to reflect: ReDux has been around for 42 months! (Can you believe some of you have ReDux-ed 42 recipes?) To celebrate, we’re playing a little party game this month: Grab your nearest cookbook and ReDux the recipe on page 42 or 142. We can’t wait to see the books you’re cooking from these days – and how you make that recipe healthier.

I found my way to this bad boy..

There are some really fun recipes in there, like cashew energy quinoa bites, that I will definitely be trying soon. In the meantime, I was quite pleased when I flipped to page 142.

Even in California, it’s been getting a little chilly lately so I couldn’t wait to make a nice, creamy soup. I had also just picked up a Butterkin Squash from Trader Joe’s that I wanted to break into. Side note: I was telling my mom it tastes like a combo of butternut squash and pumpkin.. and subsequently figured out the name, Butterkin. Genius! She and Nathan were both laughing at me. Anywho, into the pot it went!

Winter Vegetable & Quinoa Soup

Makes eleven 1-cup servings

Ingredients
– 1 medium Butterkin Squash; about 2-3 cups [Can use butternut squash or sugar pumpkin instead]
– 2 tbsp EVOO; divided
– 1 medium yellow onion; diced
– 1 large sweet potato; diced
– 1 medium golden beet; diced
– 1/2 – 1 tsp red pepper flake
– 3 – 4 cups chicken stock [Make it vegetarian/vegan by swapping out for vegetable stock!]
– 1/2 cup quinoa flakes
– 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
– 12 oz. beer; I used Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but a lesser hopped beer would be good too
– Salt & pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat your oven to 400°F. Cut your squash in half, scoop out the seeds, drizzle with 1 tbsp EVOO and place in the oven. Roast until you can easily scoop the flesh out; about 30 minutes.

Heat a large pot over medium heat and drizzle with the remaining tbsp EVOO. Add in the diced onion and cook 5-7 minutes until translucent. Sprinkle in the red pepper flake and cook another minute until it becomes fragrant. Add in the diced sweet potato, beet, and 3 cups of chicken stock. Reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and let simmer for about 10 minutes or until the sweet potato and beet are tender.

At the point, the squash should be ready to come out of the oven and cool. After the squash has cooled for a couple of minutes, scoop the flesh out and add it to the pot in addition to the quinoa flakes and nutmeg. Using an immersion blender [a regular blender would work as well, in a few batches], blend until the soup is smooth and creamy. If needed, add the 4th cup of chicken stock, but remember you’re also adding beer at the end!

Add salt and pepper to taste and pour in the beer, stirring slowly to incorporate. Scoop out a big bowl and enjoy!

Nutritional Information

98 Calories / 3g Fat / 14g Carbs / 2g Fiber / 3g Sugar / 3g Protein

Weekly Meal Plan

Sunday – Leftovers with winter veggie & quinoa soup
Monday – Roast turkey breast with roasted potatoes & carrots
Tuesday – Pomegranate sesame chicken with ginger rice
Wednesday – Leftovers
Thursday – Moroccan lemon & cardamom meatballs, naan, & side salad
Friday – Out!
Saturday – Leftovers