Non-Dairy Butternut Squash Soup
By Claire Georgiou, Reboot Naturopath, B.HSc ND
Here is a delicious soup I enjoyed recently on a chilly day. Cashews are a great cheese alternative, giving soups a creamy and thick texture without dairy. And of course, cashews are a good source of healthy fats. Adding cashew meal (just cashews blended into a flour) is an easy and healthy way to thicken any soup up in place of refined flours or cream. Any similar vegetable combinations would work well in this soup. Try substituting sweet potato, pumpkin or carrots for the butternut squash.
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole, raw, unsalted cashews
- 1 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 inch of fresh turmeric, grated or 1 tsp of dried turmeric powder
- 2 cloves of fresh garlic, crushed
- ½ cauliflower head (350g), chopped coarsely
- 1/3 butternut squash (300g), peeled, seeded and chopped coarsely
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 3 cups of vegetable broth or vegetable stock concentrate
- 1 bay leaf
Note: This soup will freeze easily and will store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Directions
1. Grind the cashews in a high speed blender or spice blender into a coarse flour.
2. Wash and prepare, chop and slice vegetables.
3. Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Sauté the onion, turmeric and garlic over medium heat until onions are translucent.
4. Add in the butternut squash, cauliflower and carrots and stir for a few minutes.
5. Add the cashew meal, vegetable stock and bay leaf to the pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
6. Using a stick blender (or a regular blender, working in batches), puree the soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 4 to 6
Substitutions
Onion – Leeks, scallions or spring onion
Turmeric – chili powder
Cauliflower – potato, sweet potato
Butternut squash – pumpkin, sweet potato, carrots
Carrots – pumpkin, sweet potato
Cashews – almond meal, macadamia meal