Thursday, February 26, 2009

Leftover Soup


Thursday is the day I receive my SPUD (Small Potatoes Urban Delivery) container full of all that yummy organic produce. I love Thursdays. I get home to find a neat plastic bin filled with beets and chard and eggplant and whatever else I have ordered that week. The thing about Thursday though is it tends to be the day that I have to cook whatever is left in the crisper to make room for the new fresh stuff (ah the joys of the apartment-sized refrigerator). So tonight I endeavored to use the last of the celery, the last few carrots, and the acorn squash that had been sitting on the top of the fridge. Remembering the leftover chipotles in adobo I had from Tuesday's fish cakes I decided to try for a soup and this was the result:

Chipotle Squash Soup

1 medium acorn squash
1-2 dried chipotles
2 tbsp olive oil
3 celery stalks, diced
2 carrots, diced
1/2 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3-4 tbsp chipotle in adobo, minced
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
4 cups veggie broth
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste

Cut acorn squash in half and place face down on a baking sheet and place in the over at 400 degrees. Cook until soft (30 mins) and let sit to cool. Once cool enough, scoop out cooked squash and whip until smooth. Set aside. Cover dried chipotles in 2 cups water and let sit for 10 minutes or until soft. Drain and reserve liquid. Loosely mince chipotles. Saute onions carrots and celery in olive oil until soft but not browned. Add garlic, dried and reconstituted chipotles, cumin and coriander and brown for 2 minutes. Add minced chipotle in adobo and cook and additional minute. Add whipped squash and mix thoroughly. Add reserved chipotle liquid and broth to desired consistency. Heat through. Add the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. This soup can be blended smooth or served chunky. We prefer a chunky soup so we ate as is with a garnish of cilantro and a side of simple braised greens. It hit the spot on this snowy day.

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