Hey, guys, guess what? I found my curry paste! Well, that’s not completely true–I’m pretty sure I still have some lurking somewhere, but I have new-found curry paste. From the grocery store. Totally random side note: I discovered that the Walmart down the street from my house does not carry curry paste (or, really, any Asian-ish ingredients beyond soy sauce and chow mein noodles), but they do carry escargots. Good to know for, you know, all my forthcoming escargots-themed posts.
Aaaaaanyway. This soup is another one of my recent favorites from Cooking Light (I swear to you all, we’re not in cahoots with them, I just love that magazine–it’s seriously life-changing to have a recipe source that understands that healthy food doesn’t have to be gross). The butternut squash makes the soup creamy and the fact that it’s been roasted gives it depth and dimension. The coconut, lime, cilantro, and Sriracha make it kind of reminiscent of one of my favorite Our Best Bites recipes ever (yeah, I get that the Thai Peanut Noodles don’t have coconut in them, but still…) and it’s super light, healthy, and packed with things that are good for you. I had a hard time getting away with this for dinner with my carnivorous family (read: husband), but it’s perfect for a light supper with a salad or sandwich or you could freeze individual portions for a quick and easy lunch.
For starters, you’re going to need 32 ounces of cubed butternut squash (I’m giving you final measurements because I find that’s a lot easier than to sit in the middle of the produce department, staring at the butternut squash(es?), trying to figure out exactly how much one of those suckers is going to weigh when you peel and seed it.), olive oil, kosher salt, chopped onion, chicken or vegetable stock, red curry paste, fresh lime juice, and lite coconut milk.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the cubed butternut squash onto the lined baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil
and sprinkle with kosher salt.
Toss the squash to combine and roast for 35 minutes or until tender and starting to brown.
While the squash is roasting heat the remaining teaspoon of oil in a large pot over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until tender (about 5 minutes). Add the stock, roasted squash, and curry paste and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Remove from heat. Add the coconut milk and lime juice.
Blend until smooth, either by using an immersible stick blender
or in batches in a countertop blender. Ladle into bowls and season with a sprinkling of kosher salt, chopped cilantro, shredded coconut, additional lime wedges, and a squirt of Sriracha sauce (if desired).
Serve immediately.
Makes 8 servings.
Calories: 121
Fat: 6
Carbs: 16
Protein: 2
Weight Watchers Points Plus: 2 or 4 (depending on how you calculate the points; if you count the squash as 0 points, the recipe has 2 points)
Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Soup
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light
Ingredients:
36 ounces peeled, seeded butternut squash, cubed
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
1 cup chopped onion
3 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock for a vegan soup)
3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon red curry paste
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 13.5-ounce can lite coconut milk
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
1/4 cup shredded coconut
Sriracha sauce to taste
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the cubed butternut squash onto the lined baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and toss to combine. Roast for 35 minutes or until tender and starting to brown.
While the squash is roasting heat the remaining teaspoon of oil in a large pot over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until tender (about 5 minutes). Add the stock, roasted squash, and curry paste and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Remove from heat. Add the coconut milk and lime juice. Blend until smooth, either by using an immersible stick blender or in batches in a countertop blender. Ladle into bowls and season with a sprinkling of salt, chopped cilantro, shredded coconut, additional lime wedges, and a squirt of Sriracha sauce (if desired). Serve immediately.
Calories: 121
Fat: 6
Carbs: 16
Protein: 2
Weight Watchers Points Plus: 2 or 4 (depending on how you calculate the points; if you count the squash as 0 points, the recipe has 2 points)
I’m making this tonight! Just a note on the curry paste…My experience has been that the Thai Kitchen supermarket brand tends to be quite mild, while the kinds you tend to find at Asian markets are likely to be quite spicy. When I make curry, I use a good half bottle of Thai Kitchen, versus less than a table spoon of the brand from the Asian store.
quick follow-up: I made this with only 1 TBS of red curry paste from an Asian store and definitely had plenty of heat!
The taste is really good, but omg 3 tablespoons of red curry paste is really too much!! Maybe the kind of curry I used was stonger, idk, but oh wow my mouth breathes fire!!!
Yum-O! I made this and it is so good! I didn’t have enough squash so I added some cauliflower to my roasting tray to round out the 36 oz. I also used full-fat unsweetened coconut milk because that’s what I had and it turned out divine. Next time I will throw in some shrimp to round out the meal. Yummy yummy! (oh and mine was not spicy at all if you are worried).
Oh wow this was good. Oh so good. We give it a 10/10!