Eating with the Seasons: Winter

Soothe the nervous system & calm inflammation with our butternut squash soup

This winter, we have been subscribing to a local CSA box by Eatwell Farms. The farm is all organic and only an hour and a half away from the clinic. When we saw the beautiful butternut squash arrive in our box, we knew exactly what would be cooking for dinner. Our butternut squash soup recipe is both warming and nutritious. We recommend many of our patients get into the habit of drinking or cooking with bone broth in the winter season. The yin nature of bone broth is healthy for optimal kidney qi function, anti-inflammatory for the gut lining, and contains essential nutrients for our wellbeing. Ginger and turmeric are both Chinese herbs that move the qi and blood, warm the channels, and reduce inflammation in the cells. For more on Traditional Chinese medicine, seasonal recipes, and herbs check out our Winter Rituals Zine. It’s available as a PDF download and we ship!

Let’s get cooking…

Here’s what you’ll need:

• baking sheet or cast iron skillet

• blender

• saute pan

• 1 butternut squash

• 3 cloves garlic

• 1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

• 1 tsp fresh turmeric, peeled and chopped or 1 tsp good quality ground turmeric (we love Diaspora turmeric!)

• 1 sweet yellow onion, chopped

• 2 green onions, diced

• 1 heaping Tbs miso

• 2-4cups chicken bone broth, vegetable broth, or filtered water (depends on the size of your squash)

• Black pepper, black sesame seeds or gomasio, sea salt to taste

Recipe:

• Turn oven on to 375 deg.

• Roast the whole butternut squash on a cookie sheet or pan for 30min-1hr, or until you can pierce the squash with a fork easily.

• In the meantime, peel the ginger and the garlic cloves. Chop the yellow onion into small pieces, slice the green onions into thin pieces.

• Saute the onion for 5 min, add the ginger and the garlic, and saute until fragrant. Place the onion, garlic and ginger into the blender.

• Once the squash has softened in the oven, remove the squash, let it cool for a few min on the baking sheet or a cutting board, and cut off the bottom and top, scoop the seeds out, and scoop the squash out into the blender.

• Add the broth and all of the ingredients (except for toppings) into a high speed blender and blend until smooth.

Serve warm with green onions, sesame oil, gomasio on top. Add salt and pepper to taste. Hope y’all enjoy!