begin preparation the night before!
Ingredients
1 butternut squash*
8-9 ounces dried navy beans (white)
2 small-medium sized yellow onions
4-6 cloves of garlic
2-4 teaspoons of cinnamon
1-2 ½ teaspoons cumin
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup of butter (soup)
⅛ cup of butter (squash)
up to a ¼ cup of milk (any kind**)
Optional Toppings
12 ounces fresh cilantro
plain tart yogurt
sliced lemon wedges
My Note About The Ingredients
Essentially, the amounts of spices and herbs can vary as much as you like. It’s all about personal preference. In my world, garlic is pretty much the greatest thing ever and you can’t really have too much of it, so I always chop a bit more than any recipe calls for. I also use the larger amounts of cinnamon and cumin listed. As for the beans, I just can’t remember exactly how much I had left in my 2kg bag so I’m guesstimating.
Directions
Sift through the navy beans and discard any unsavory looking suspects (discolored, cracked, meh). Rinse the beans thoroughly and soak in cool water at room temperature overnight. Remember, the beans will expand to about 2 ½ times their original size so choose a container with enough room for them to grow! And just fill that container to the top with water (too much water won’t do anything to the beans, they just won’t absorb more than they’re able to).
Good morning, beans! Grab a large pot (wide bottom) and set it on the stove. Strain the beans in colander and place the new, soaked beans in the pot. Cover the beans with about an inch (5cm) of water and put the lid on the pot. Do not salt the water! Bring the beans to a boil and then reduce the heat. Cook the beans over medium-low heat until they are tender (anywhere from 1-3 hours).
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit (180 celsius) While your beans are busy getting delicious, crack out that butternut squash! Cut the squash lengthwise and remove the ooey gooey strings and seeds*. Place the halves skin-side-down on a foil lined baking sheet. Take your ⅛ cup or so of butter and melt it in the microwave. Drizzle this over the squash and cook them in the oven for about 50 minutes. You can test them by poking the flesh with a fork--it should slide in easily at the neck of the squash as well as the base. Also, don’t worry if they aren’t as done as you’d like at the end of the 50 minutes; there will be another opportunity to soften them later on. Didn’t I tell you this was foolproof?
Set the ¼ cup of butter in a nonstick skillet and melt over low heat. Add the desired amount of cinnamon and cumin to the butter while it melts.
Chop, chop, chop it up! Mince your garlic and dice the onions. Toss them in with the melted butter, coating everything evenly with the spices. At this point, I add the salt and pepper I think I’ll want. Of course, later, I tend to add more depending on how salty I want the soup. Cook the onions and garlic over medium-low heat until they are golden no longer crunchy.
Wait.
When the beans are done, scoop the flesh out of the squash skins and add it to beans (don’t switch out the water! It adds a lot of nice flavor to the soup without having to use any stock/broth). At this point, I begin hand-mashing the beans and squash.
Add the onions and garlic to the pot, mixing thoroughly and incorporating any excess butter from the onions. If you have a blender, feel free the puree the contents of the pot in batches until the desired consistency is reached. Note, however, that if it’s not a smooth soup, it still tastes and looks just fine. Really.
Add the milk, stir, and you are done! Taste test to see if you want to add more salt or pepper.
Serve plain, or with the suggested toppings. This can also be served over rice as a curry would be, another reason leaving it slightly chunky is acceptable. This soup also pairs nicely with a dry red wine and fresh bread. Enjoy!
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*if you want to reduce your waste impact, make sure to save the seeds you scoop out to toast later for a crunchy, low-fat, low-sugar, high-salt smackerl ;]
**if you are lactose intolerant and using a soy product, try not to use a sweetened milk substitute, such as almond milk or vanilla soy milk. The butternut is already quite sweet and requires no additional sugar!
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