Harvest Season Chicken Noodle Soup

There's one place I can always depend on finding some fresh produce, and that is at Save Mart Supermarkets. I love browsing their produce department and am delighted when there's awesome sales and great deals on seasonal items. I know that it's all I talk about on here, but I'm practically obsessed with Fall recipes. Last year I posted two pumpkin recipes, and they were both breads. Actually one was bread, and one was muffins but they were essentially the same recipe. Of course, when pumpkin season rolls around my first thought is baking. When I saw these beautiful pumpkins on display while shopping at Save Mart I had an entirely different idea in store. Along with pumpkins of every size there were also some fabulous seasonal squashes on sale as well, so I decided on purchasing a butternut squash and trying my hand at a delicious Fall themed soup. There's nothing like a warm and hearty soup during this time of year, and squash epitomizes the harvest season flavors.

I decided to combine the butternut squash and the pumpkin, roasting them to bring out all of that sweet flavor, then pureeing them and creating a soup. I love Fall soups, and this is a take on the classic chicken noodle soup, but reworking it with Autumn squash flavors, adding some pretty Fall colored vegetables and beans, and serving with some warm, crisp, buttery bread.

Do you know the many health benefits of pumpkin? It's low calorie, high fiber, rich in vitamin A and is high in antioxidants. We all are familiar with pumpkin pie or other delicious pumpkin treats this time of year, but it's wonderful to incorporate into healthy and delicious meals. I enhanced the flavors of the squash with coconut, cinnamon, nutmeg, and some curry, among other things. Don't worry, if you're not a curry lover you can leave it out, and if you're a vegetarian you can leave out the chicken too. This recipe has a light sweet flavor, but there's a nice kick to it that I enjoy. I served this dish with whole wheat pasta, making it the ultimate healthy comfort food! This recipe creates a lot of soup, we're freezing half and still have a ton of leftovers! If you have a smaller family or don't want quite this much food you can halve the recipe, or even quarter it!

Ingredients:

• 2/3 medium pumpkin, deseeded and diced into 2 inch wedges with skin on
• 1 medium butternut squash, deseeded and diced into 2 inch wedges with skin on
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 teaspoon yellow curry powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried cilantro
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon dry ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 1 medium bell pepper, cut into small strips
• 1 medium carrot, thinly sliced then cut in half
• 2-1/2 cups sweet corn
• 1 can black beans, drained and well rinsed
• 3 cups shredded chicken thigh meat
• juice of one lime
• 2 pounds rotini, cooked and drained

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Cut open the pumpkin and butternut squash, removing the seeds. Cut  pieces about two inches big and toss into a roasting pan with salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. Be sure to toss it around a few times, then roast in the oven about 55 minutes or until tender. About halfway through the cooking time, mix around the squash so all sides get roasted evenly.

Once done roasting, let cool then scrape skin off roasted flesh. 

Combine pumpkin, butternut squash, coconut milk, warmed coconut oil (1/4 cup) and vegetable broth. 

If you have an immersion blender place ingredients in a large pot and blend, otherwise you can place in a blender and blend until pureed. My blender holds nine cups and I had to do it in batches.

After the first batch, I added all of the spices to the puree (curry, cumin, dry cilantro, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, paprika, ginger, pepper) and blend until smooth and mixed.

Once each batch is blended, pour the puree through a mesh sieve to ensure smoothness. 

Warm over medium-low heat, add sherry then reduce to a low simmer covered.

Keep over heat for close to an hour while you prepare the rest of the soup ingredients.

In a large saucepan heat the other two tablespoons of coconut oil.

Add chopped shallot and red pepper flakes and saute until shallots are soft. 

Add bell pepper and carrots, saute until fragrant and softened a bit.

Add corn, black beans and shredded chicken, then squeeze lime juice over.

Continue to saute another 4-5 minutes.

Combine rotini with chicken and veggie mixture, then pour pureed mixture over.

Mix until well combined.and serve with crusty, buttery bread.

Enjoy!

What are some of your favorite fresh finds from Save Mart? 

For more ideas, visit them on Pinterest!