Golden Squash Soup - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

healthy food tip and recipe

Today's Recipe If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...
This easy-to-prepare soup is a favorite among many of our readers. It's not only flavorful, but an excellent source of vitamin A. Enjoy!
Golden Squash Soup
Prep and Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

• 1 medium-sized butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 medium cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 TBS chopped fresh ginger
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 TBS + 2-3/4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 6 oz canned coconut milk
• 2 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
• salt & white pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Chop onion and garlic and let sit for 5-10 minutes to enhance their health-promoting benefits.
2. Peel and cut squash.
3. Heat 1 TBS broth in medium soup pot. Healthy Sauté onion in broth over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until translucent.
4. Add garlic and ginger, and continue to sauté for another minute. Add turmeric and curry powder, and mix well. Add squash and broth, and mix. Bring to a boil on high heat. Once it comes to a boil reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered until squash is tender, about 10 minutes.
5. Place in blender and blend with coconut milk. Make sure you blend in batches filling blender only half full. Start on low speed, so hot soup does not erupt and burn you. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Thin with a little broth if needed. Season to taste with salt and white pepper. Reheat, and add cilantro.

Serves 4 Printer Friendly Version of Golden Squash Soup
In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Golden Squash Soup
Healthy Food Tip

The Latest News About Winter Squash

What's New and Beneficial About Winter Squash

• Although winter squash has long been recognized as an important food source of carotenoids, only recently have research studies documented just how fantastic winter squash can be when it comes to these key antioxidants. For some groups of study participants, winter squash turns out to be the primary food source of alpha-carotene and beta-carotene in the entire diet! For lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-cryptoxanthin (three other health-supportive carotenoids) winter squash also comes out among the top three food sources in several studies.
• Seeds from winter squash make a great snack food, just like pumpkin seeds. If you scoop the pulp and seeds from inside the squash and separate out the seeds, you can place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and lightly roast them at 160-170ºF (about 75ºC) in the oven for 15-20 minutes. By roasting them for a relatively short time at a low temperature you can help minimize damage to their healthy oils. Linoleic acid (the polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acid) and oleic acid (the same monounsaturated fatty acid that is plentiful in olive oil) account for about 75% of the fat found in the seeds.
• We think about winter squash as a very starchy vegetable - about 90% of its total calories come from carbohydrate, and about half of this carbohydrate is starch-like in its composition. However, recent research has made it clear that all starch is not the same, and the starch content of winter squash brings along with it some key health benefits. Many of the carbs in winter starch come from polysaccharides found in the cell walls. These polysaccharides include pectins - specially structured polysaccharides that in winter squash often include special chains of D-galacturonic acid called homogalacturonan. An increasing number of animal studies now show that these starch-related components in winter squash have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, as well as anti-diabetic and insulin-regulating properties.
• Winter squash is a vegetable that might be especially important for us to purchase organic. Recent agricultural trials have shown that winter squash can be an effective intercrop for use in remediation of contaminated soils. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including pyrene, fluoranthene, chrysene, benzo(a)anthracene and benzo(a)pyrene are unwanted contaminants. PAHs are among the contaminants that can be effectively pulled up out of the soil by winter squash plants. When winter squash is planted as a food crop (as opposed to a non-food crop that is being planted between food crop seasons to help improve soil quality), the farmer's goal is definitely not to transfer soil contaminants like PAHs up into the food. But some of that transfer seems likely to happen, given the effectiveness of winter squash in mobilizing contaminants like PAHs from the soil. For this reason, you may want to make a special point of purchasing certified organic winter squash. Soils used fo r the growing of in certified organic foods are far less likely to contain undesirable levels of contaminants like PAHs.

WHFoods Recommendations

Our favorite way to prepare winter squash is to steam it as it takes such a short period of time. It's best to steam 1-inch cubes of squash. The preparation for this is described in the How to Enjoy section of our website. For most types of squash you only need to steam it for 7 minutes. So you save time and enjoy a host of more nutrients.

Health Benefits

Winter squash provide numerous health benefits including:

• Antioxidant support
• Anti-inflammatory benefits
• Possibility of better regulation of blood sugar
• Potential for enhancing heart health

For more details on walnuts' health benefits, see this section of our winter squash.

Nutritional Profile

The amazing phytonutrient content of winter squash makes us realize that this food is not just a starchy vegetable. Carotenoids found in winter squash include alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin. Pectin-containing cell wall polysaccharides found in winter squash are important anti-inflammatory nutrients provided by this food, as are its cucurbitacins (triterpene molecules). Winter squash is an excellent source of immune-supportive vitamin A (in its "previtamin" carotenoid forms). It is also a very good source of free radical-scavenging vitamin C and manganese and heart-healthy potassium and dietary fiber. In addition, winter squash is a good source of heart-healthy folate, omega-3 fatty acids, niacin, and vitamin B6; energy-producing thiamin and vitamin B5; and bone-building copper.
For more on this nutrient-rich legume, including references related to this Latest News, see our write-up on winter squash.