Apple Honeynut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 8 honeynut squashes, baked
- 2 red apples, roughly chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, crushed or sliced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 Tbsp garam masala
- 3 bayleaf
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 pinch saffron
- 4 Tbsp coconut milk (optional)
- 8 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups filtered water
- sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Bake the Honey Nut Squash for about 45 minutes in the oven.
- Saute the onions and garlic in 1/2 cup of vegetable broth until soft.
- Add the honey squash into the pot and mix. The squash should already be soft. Add the rest of the vegetable broth and additional filtered water.
- Once simmering 5 - 7 minutes, the bay leaf and garam masala and 1 cinnamon stick. Let this cook for about 20 minutes.
- Once done, remove the bay leaf and the cinnamon stick. Use a hand blender to blend the soup.
- Add the apples right before serving. Drizzle with 1 tbsp of coconut milk and a pinch of saffron
Apple honeynut squash soup is the perfect transitional soup, taking you into the fall with all the flavors and warmth. Not only is this soup incredibly delicious and simple to prepare, it also boasts impressive healing powers.
Soup recipes can be very helpful for staying on track nutritionally as the weather gets cooler.
When it starts to get cold outside, we naturally begin to crave “comfort foods” that fill us with warmth. Adding a good soup packed with critical clean carbohydrates and healing foods, can provide the warmth you seek so you do not turn to troublemaker foods.
One of my favorite parts about soups is they last! I will make a huge pot of soup and be able to use it for days. These soups freeze beautifully so you can always make a big batch and freeze half of it, that way you will have a go-to on those days you really don’t feel like cooking or just don’t have the time.
Let’s dig a little deeper to understand why this soup has such incredible healing powers.
Apples
Apples have incredible anti-inflammatory properties that help to reduce your viral and bacterial load. The phytochemicals in apples are quite literally brain food – feeding neurons and increasing electrical activity. In addition, they contain phytochemicals that are responsible for heavy metal and radiation detoxification, as well as glutamine and serine – amino acids that help remove MSG from the brain. A true brain food!
Red apples, in particular, are a very alkaline fruit that has the ability to quench thirst on a cellular level by providing living water to support the liver’s ability to hydrate.
Equally important, the fruit acids in apples (both malic and tartaric acids) help cleanse the liver by dispersing toxic films that build up inside the liver’s storage banks. Furthermore, apples starve out bacteria, yeast, mold, other funguses, and viruses from the liver. This makes red apples an incredible liver detoxifier.
Honeynut Squash
Honeynut squash is a hybrid version of butternut squash – looks like mini butternut squash. Winter squash, such as honeynut and butternut are an alkaline food that is rich in phytonutrients and antioxidants. This squash is also very easy to digest and an excellent remedy for acidosis as well as various conditions that affect the stomach, spleen, liver, and blood. Being high in vitamins A, E, C, B-complex, and beta carotene, iron, zinc, calcium, and potassium, squash is incredible for the immune and nervous systems. The carotenoids, which give it that vibrant orange hue, are particularly beneficial for protecting against heart disease, breast cancer, and macular degeneration.
Additionally, honeynut squash reduces inflammation which is very helpful to those suffering from conditions such as asthma, fibromyalgia, and arthritis. Squash is a low-calorie, fat-free food that has an abundance of nutrients which makes it ideal for weight loss.
“Winter Squash can be steamed, baked, roasted, mashed like potatoes, or blended into a soup. The seeds of winter squash are also edible and can be dried or roasted similarly to pumpkin seeds and are rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids such as tryptophan which helps to promote a healthy night’s sleep.”
Anthony William, Facebook
My mouth is watering just thinking about this delicious apple honeynut squash soup! I hope you find the ease of making this, coupled with its delicious flavor, turns this into one of your go-to favorite healing and satiating soups!
To your health & happiness,
Muneeza
