November 10th - squash curry soup

The realities of life after the CSA have really started to sink in this week; lingering CSA vegetables, like carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash, have hung around long enough for the transition to be gradual.

Life during the CSA was full of incredible culinary growth and palate expansion for me (and Jonathan), but included a lot of (albeit self-imposed) limitations. I bookmarked tons recipes I came across on which I couldn't justify expending cooking time and energy. I even hesitated at free meals that would mean consuming calories that weren't coming from CSA vegetables.

Thus, one of the positive aspects of life post-CSA has been a feeling of excitement stemming from the freedom to use my "kitchen energy" however I like. I have found renewed motivation from culinary possibilities, including an unhealthy obsession with pastry (though this could also be due to the approaching holidays). It's almost like a whole side of my culinary self was put on hold from June until now and that I am in the process of waking up. For example, I hadn't made traditional pizza crust since before the CSA (that changed last night), focusing instead on "alternative" pizza crusts that use CSA vegetables (see here and here).

The bad side of life post-CSA includes the obvious - greens from the grocery store really suck, our diets probably aren't as healthy and diverse, and we now have to seek out and pay for produce, which is just a pain.

The really difficult part, though, is the feeling of indecision and accompanying anxiety over the limitless choices I now apparently have in the kitchen. This, of course, stems from a lack of (albeit self-imposed) limitations. Therefore, to quell these feelings, I instituted "soup week" on Monday to limit my choices and keep myself from wavering between pizza, chickpea salad, quinoa chowder, jap chae, Indian vegetable fritters, etc., all on the same night. At the time I didn't articulate this reasoning to myself, but it became clear a few days in.

Soup week started off on Monday with Swiss chard and potato soup from the freezer, followed on Tuesday by a new recipe from Elise at Simply Recipes (below). Next came cabbage soup on Wednesday, and finally there was carrot coconut curry on Thursday

We celebrated the end of soup week by making pizza on Friday.

Squash Curry Soup
Adapted from here
Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (about 2 medium onions)
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 2 tsp. minced ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp. curry powder (I used my favorite SWAD Madras curry powder) 
• 3/4 tsp. ground cumin (preferably ground from whole seeds)
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander (I am wary of grinding this from whole seeds for some dishes as I can find it too pungent) 
• Pinch of ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 4 cups chicken broth, vegetable broth, or water
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 1/2 cups (2 15 oz cans) roasted pumpkin or winter squash (You can puree this ahead of time, but I never do for dishes like this since I am going to puree everything in the end anyway. Same goes for pumpkin pie and sweet potato pancakes.)
• 3 tbsp. heavy cream
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 1-2 tbsp. lime juice (or lemon juice?) 
• Sour cream or yogurt for topping
• Toasted squash seeds for topping (optional)
• Naan or bread for serving (optional) 

Directions

• Melt butter in a large pot of medium heat. Add the onions and saute until they have some color, about 10 minutes.
• Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and salt and saute for a minute.
• Add the water/broth/stock, bay leaves, and squash. 
• Increase heat to high, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
• Simmer 10-15 minutes.
• Remove bay leaves. Puree the soup using an immersion blender or blender.
• Stir in the cream, black pepper, and lime or lemon juice to taste. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed (more salt will be necessary if you used water or salt-free broth/stock).
• Serve with sour cream or yogurt, toasted seeds from the squash, and naan or bread.