Instinct Soup: Cooking With Joy and Intention

Photo by Elena Leya on Unsplash

Ever wandered through the supermarket and asked, "Who wants to be in my soup?" Shelley Whizin, The Live & Die Happy Coach, does exactly that, and it's the kind of playful, trust-your-gut cooking she brings to this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Soul Diving Sunday" Podcast.

Shelley shares her Butternut Squash Ginger Carrot Instinct Soup, part of her "Instinct Soup" collection built from ingredients across five of her recipes. With Thanksgiving coming up, it's a warm, colorful dish for your holiday table or the cozy days around it. She talks about cooking with joy and intention, cooking for one, why a smile belongs in the kitchen, and the delicious art of trusting your instincts. The soup can be made strictly vegetarian, and Shelley invites you to make it your own.

Listen to episode:

Shelley's companion article on her Substack, The Soul Library, goes deeper into the story behind the soup, and the full recipe is below. Want more? The recipes in her book What Do You Bring to the Table? are the ones to keep close, including her grilled cheese, which you'll find in the book.

Butternut Squash Ginger Carrot Instinct Soup

Serves 6 | Prep: 25 minutes | Cook: 40 minutes | Total: 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

2 Tbsp butter, room temperature
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion or 2 medium onions, chopped
3 Tbsp minced garlic
1 thumb of ginger, peeled, grated or chopped
2 tsp ginger paste
¼ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp mild yellow curry powder
½ tsp turmeric
2 lb butternut squash, chopped
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 apples, cubed into 1-inch pieces
1 (32-oz) container organic chicken or vegetable stock
3 Tbsp Better Than Bouillon (chicken or vegetable)
¼ cup maple syrup
½ cup squeezed orange juice
1 tsp salt
Pinch of pepper

Garnish: ¼ cup roasted pumpkin seeds and cilantro

Photo by Viviana Rishe on Unsplash

Directions

Chop up all of your ingredients first, especially the onion and ginger.
In a large soup pot, warm the olive oil and room temperature butter over medium heat until simmering.
Add the chopped onion, minced garlic, ginger, ginger paste, cinnamon, curry, turmeric and salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened and starting to turn golden on the edges (about 3 to 4 minutes) and you can smell the fragrance. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot. Don't forget to SMELL everything cooking, that's half the fun!
Add the squash, carrots, sweet potato and apples to the pot.
Stir all of the vegetables and let cook for about 10 minutes.
Add the stock and bouillon, making sure all the vegetables are covered. Bring just to a boil, then turn the burner down to medium.
Add the maple syrup and squeezed orange juice and reduce the heat to low.
Cover the pot and simmer 25 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.
Transfer half (or however much your instincts tell you) of the soup to a blender, leaving some of the vegetable pieces in the pot. Blend until smooth. Make sure the lid is fastened on tightly with a little air to release the steam.
Return the blended mixture to the pot and mix in any remaining stock to reach your desired taste and consistency.
Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Garnish with a sprig of cilantro on top and a few pumpkin seeds.