Curried Squash Soup

This is a full flavored and filling soup, adapted from The New Moosewood Cookbook. I eliminated the roasting, multi-step blending, orange juice, mustard, and added nutritional yeast and wild rice. I hope you like it and come to depend on it in the winter as much as I do.

1 butternut squash

1 can or 14.5 ounces vegetable broth

2 cans or 28 ounces water

1 tbsp olive oil for the pan

1/2 of a large yellow onion chopped

2 cloves garlic crushed

some salt

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp cumin

1 or 2 dashes of cayenne pepper

14 white mushrooms, sliced

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

For the rice:

2 cups wild rice

4 cups water

You'll also need:

A very sharp and sturdy knife

Cutting board

Soup pot

Pan

A medium sized pot for the rice

A large spoon for stirring and ladeling

An immersion blender is preferred but any blender will do.

Cut the ends off the squash and cut the squash in half.

Cut the skin off the squash halves by standing them on their ends and cutting downwards.

Cut the two halves in half again and scoop and discard the insides.

Chop the 4 large pieces of squash into inch sized cubes and add the cubed squash to the soup pot.

Add the water and vegetable broth to the soup pot.

Cover the pot, turn the burner on high and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the squash can be easily skewered with a fork.

Turn off the heat, remove the lid and allow to cool until it's still hot but not scalding.

Cook the rice:

Fill the pot with water, cover, turn the burner on high and bring to a boil.

Add the rice and lower the heat. Allow the rice to simmer, half covered, and stir occasionally while you continue making the soup.

The water should be fully absorbed or evaporated and the rice should be cooked through at about the same time.

Strain any excess water and set aside, covered, if the rice is done before the soup.

Chop the onions and garlic

In a small bowl, mix the onions, garlic, salt and spices

Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat

Add the onion/spice mixture and sautee for a minute or two.

Add the mushrooms and sautee until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms are well browned and have let out lots of liquid.

Use the blade, not the whisk tool on the immersion blender, plug it in and immerse the entire head of the blender in the soup pot.

If you are using a regular blender or food processor, allow the squash to cool a little longer and blend in batches. Return all the blended squash to the pot.

If using an immersion blender, blend on high until most of the squash is blended. I leave about a quarter of the squash unblended because I like the chunky squash texture in the final soup.

Transfer about a cup and a half of blended squash into the sautee'd mixture, add the nutritional yeast, and sautee for about a minute more to blend the squash and spice flavors, then add the whole mixture to the soup.

Simmer the whole soup for about 5 more minutes to allow all the flavors to fully blend together.

Ladel into bowls, add some rice, and eat immediately, or allow to cool and then freeze for later. It will also last for a few days in the fridge. If storing, keep the rice and soup separated.

Enjoy!