Spiced Pumpkin Soup/BBB13

 

We’ve had some pretty wet and wild weather here this last week in the UK so I’ve kept myself pretty much indoors. I’ve been rattling some pots and pans and making some recipes well ahead of Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night.  One such is this Spiced Pumpkin (or Squash) Soup which freezes beautifully. It’s a smooth and lightly spiced soup that is great for all stages of eating after WLS (save the very earliest clear fluids one) and might be just one of the very first soups you enjoy post-op. I used a medium curry powder but you can user a milder or stronger one according to taste. It might be just the soup to make with the scooped-out or carved flesh of a pumpkin lantern (and perhaps topped with a few of the roasted seeds) so that nothing goes to waste! Such a dish also merits to be a Bariatric Bargain Busting one so joins the others in our file.

 

 

 

 

SPICED PUMPKIN SOUP

Ingredients

METRIC/US

low-fat cooking spray or mist

3 shallots or 1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

5 cm/2 inch piece fresh ginger, grated

2 tsp medium curry powder

750 g/11/2 lb pumpkin or squash flesh, cubed

400 g/14 oz can reduced fat coconut milk

400 ml/13/4 cups vegetable stock/bouillon

salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

METHOD

1.  Generously spritz a large pan with low-fat cooking spray or mist. Heat, add the shallots or onion and cook for 3-4 minutes to soften slightly.

2.  Add the garlic, ginger and curry powder and cook for a further 1 minute. Add the pumpkin or squash flesh, coconut milk and stock. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 10-12 minutes, until the pumpkin or squash is tender.

3.  Puree with a hand-held blend or blend until smooth in a food processor. Season to taste with salt and pepper, reheat until hot and serve, sprinkled with toasted pumpkin seeds if liked and tolerated.

 

SERVES 4

WLS PORTION: 1/2-3/4

V suitable for Vegetarians

 

CALORIES PER PORTION: 170

PROTEIN: 3.8g

CARBOHYDRATE: 16.6g

FAT: 11g