Souper Salad

There are many benefits to marriage or co-habitation like having a constant cuddle buddy, someone to reach your Le Creuset on the tippy top shelf and spread cream cheese on your bagel after a long run. While the benefits certainly outweight the negatives, one of the things I miss about singledom is single gal food. You know, hummus, pita and veggies, a veggie burger, a garbage bowl salad; basic, quick, good-for-you food. When I said 'I do', those veggie-centric meals were replaced by pasta, large hunks of grilled beef, the occasional pepper and onion...and did I mention pasta?

So on Monday evenings when hubs plays basketball, I get to re-live my single days for a few short hours, not in the hanging from chandeliers sense, but in the eating green, crunchy things sense. After staring at my lone acorn squash for longer than I care to admit, I looked on Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks for some gourd inspiration. Unsurprisingly, she has a simple recipe for "Thai Chili Pumpkin Soup" that involves five ingredients that I miraculously had on hand: squash, coconut milk, red curry paste, salt and water.

After sawing (read swiftly slicing) my squash in half, I buttered, salt and peppered my squash halves and set it to roasting for the next hour. In the meantime I made myself a garbage bowl salad filled with chopped green beans, english cukes, sweet red peppers, carrots, cherry tomatoes, mixed greens and herbed goat cheese. Add a splash of good balsamic vinegar and voila!



Post-roast, the soup came together quickly, especially if you have an immersion blender on hand. I kept the soup on the thicker side, and added some chili powder and crushed black pepper to add some extra pep. All in all a tasty low-cal meal for me, myself and I! Happy Monday!