RED KURI SQUASH SOUP with CUMIN, CORIANDER + COCONUT


I want to study food history. (As some of you may know, I am currently getting an undergraduate degree in history.) Unfortunately my university doesn't really offer any courses centred around what we eat, so I feel at a loss. After a handful of conversations with Jack and some thoughts on my own, I realized me + a food history course would probably be a perfect match. I love history. I love food. Food history; I would most likely love. And lately I've been struggling dealing with the nasty bits of human history (i.e. all of human history) where one group of folks (i.e. The White Man) completely screws over everyone else with a seemingly endless myriad of shitty excuses depending on where and when you are looking at. Of course me taking a break from learning this stuff wouldn't make it go away, but for my own mental health I think it'd be good for me to study slightly less tragic realities for awhile. Not to say food history won't come with its dark periods. Yet now we loop back to the issue of FINDING a food history course for me to take... none are showing themselves to me willingly.

Update: instead of finding a nice n easy little food history course I have decided to jump head first into every ugly, hard-to-deal-with historical and current truth of humanity by taking a new (?) philosophy class offered at my school called Global Justice; we're basically gonna learn all the terrible consequences industrialization, colonialization and globalization have had on various communities and countries. And I am taking a history course about the British Empire and Commonwealth, which will definitely inform the other class.

Onto this soup. It's delicious and thick and creamy and makes ya warm from the inside out. Definitely made more awesome with fresh avocado toast, plenty of snow outside and a blanket 'round your bod. Jack and I are staying in the BC interior right now and at night it gets to twenty below. There is snow everywhere. I am essentially in my own winter wonderland and I never want to go home. It is SO FREAKING peaceful and quiet. The town we are staying in has just a few hundred people who live here year round, so I feel like Jack and I are the only two people in the world. I've been sleeping in, drinking lots of wine, eating loaves of organic bread that a lovely couple bakes just a few doors down and sells on Tuesdays, and generally just appreciating the lack of noise and busy-ness that are assumed constants in the city. Have a beautiful day. x


RED KURI SQUASH SOUP with CUMIN, CORIANDER + COCONUT

1 (2 lb) red kuri squash
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg powder
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
1 tablespoon tamari
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 can (400 ml) coconut milk
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon chunk ginger
3 cups vegetable broth or more, depending on your preference 
1/2 cup walnuts (optional) 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Chop the squash into 1-inch cubes (no need to peel). Toss the cubes with the cumin, coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, chipotle, tamari and vinegar. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until tender all the way through. Transfer the baked squash to a blender and blend with the rest of the ingredients (you might need to do it in two or three batches if your blender is smaller or less powerful). If you need to add more broth, go ahead. Mine was super thick and that's how I like it. Also: be careful not to over-blend, otherwise the soup will get glue-y. Once blended to a smooth, creamy consistency; serve with avocado toast, crackers, as a sauce for vegetables or pasta, or however you like!

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