Ah summer… I think it’s everyone’s favourite month. (At least mine as it’s the sunniest/warmest time in Canada.) But now the weather is growing colder already and I can tell I’m missing the heat…. I was looking around the freezer the other day and wanted to make up something quick and healthy and I saw I had some bags of frozen butternut squash and some fresh corn. I decided to put it together with onions and broth and make a soup out of it, but it wasn’t thick enough so I thought, hey why don’t I try some white beans to add some bulk and cream it up? It turned out to be a great idea and a totally delicious combination. This soup doesn’t need any butter or cream to make it creamy and delicious, the white beans work perfectly. It also needs very little seasoning since it’s so sweet naturally from the sweet corn.
In fact you could even eat this soup without any of the seasonings at all, it would be a great soup for fussy children, or even a good choice for toddlers. Everyone knows children enjoy soft naturally sweet foods and butternut squash and corn is a favourite.
I decided to kick things up a bit with some smoked paprika which added a delicious smokey flavour to the soup. Smoked paprika isn’t of the spicy variety, but sweet so it adds some nice flavour without being spicy.
Summer sweet corn goes really well in almost any dish. It’s a great topping for salads, adds natural sweetness to soups and is great on it’s own, no seasonings required.
Give this soup a try! It’s super easy (especially if you have frozen squash already, available at most health food stores.)
Fat Free Vegan Summer Harvest Soup (Butternut Squash Sweet Corn and White Bean Soup)
Serves 4-5
Ingredients:
4 cups/1 qt./946 mL vegetable broth (homemade or low sodium)
1 large sweet onion, diced (such as Vidalia or Walla Walla)
5 cloves of garlic, minced
6 cups/25 oz./1.5 lbs butternut squash, peeled and cubed (fresh or frozen)
2 1/2 cups sweet corn (fresh, frozen or canned – no sodium)
16 oz./453 g can white beans or chickpeas, drained
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (or any other seasoning of choice)
3/4 tsp Herbamare or salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
Directions:
- Sauté onions and garlic in a large pot over medium heat in 1/2 cup of vegetable broth until soft 5-6 minutes.
- Add squash, corn and beans and remaining broth and cover. Cook until squash is tender.
- Carefully spoon mixture into a Vitamix blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
- Pour mixture back into pot, add seasonings and mix thoroughly. Taste test and adjust seasonings if desired.
What do you think of this summer soup? Have you ever tried smoked paprika before?