Ingredients
Serves 4 for dinner this evening
Ingredients
3 yellow zucchini (green or yellow)
2 small potatoes
1 medium onion (peeled by child, cut by adult)
1 tbsp of butter (eye balled)
1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar (eye balled)
sea salt
Greek yogurt, a few large spoonfuls
water
lemon (optional)
my daughter’s half eaten apple (optional)
Preparation
1- Start by cutting all your veggies up. I give the main ingredients and easiest things to cut up to my daughter, the zucchini, potatoes and apple. It’s important that she sees how we can use the part of an apple that she didn’t eat + it adds a bit of sweetness. I cut up the onions. It all goes in the pot. Size doesn’t matter too much unless you have an older child that is comfortable with cutting, you can work on them with making the sizes similar.
*if the potatoes are cut into big chunks, I discreetly cut them down so that they don’t take ages to cook.
2- After all the veggies are in the pot. Guide them to cut a peice of butter. About a tablespoon but go ahead and guide them to eyeball it. More or less will be just fine.
3- Next add in the apple cider vinegar. This doesn’t need to be perfect either. About a tbsp of apple cider vinegar. You can use a soup spoon to measure if you’d like to show them other ways than traditional measuring spoons.
4- Move your pot next to the sink and let your kiddo fill up the pot to just cover all the veggies. You can give them a recipient with a handle on it for easy pouring. Add some salt and set it to boil. Once boiling, turn it down to a simmer. Check your potatoes after 15 minutes to see if they are cooked. Your squash will cook quickely.
5- Check on your roasting butternut squash. Once it’s out of the oven, use a big knife and mindfully cut down the center of the squash to open it up and allow the heat to escape. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon and then continue to scoop out the flesh and add it directly into your soup pot. You can also peel off the skin that should come off easily and add the butternut in that way. Cook in the pot for about 5 minutes.
6- Once cooked, use an immersion blender to blend up the soup. It’s up to you and your comfort level if you let your kiddo blend it with your supervision or let them watch. Perhaps they have lost interest at this point and that is ok too!
7- After it’s blended, add in your greek yogurt. I go for two big soup spoonfuls. Adjust to taste. Blend and taste. You may need to add some salt or acid, use some fresh lemon as it works deliciously. Serve and enjoy!
Step 1
We started by having my daughter cut up the zucchinis and potatoes. Size really doesn't matter. If you feel up to guiding them on size, go for it.
She started out by using the knife protector but we both decided it was harder with it. Instead, she practiced hiding the tips of her fingers by curling them. She did pretty good!
I put the soup pot right next to her so that she can toss in her cuts as she goes. She loved this. Meanwhile on another small cutting board I am roughly cutting up the onion, old apple (for some sweetness) and I add in the butter.
Notice how there are varying sizes in the pot. Size really doesn't matter here! Let them do their cutting thang.
Using a pitcher or something with a handle, have them pour water into the pot to fill it up to just cover the contenents.
Add in the vinegar with your kid. It's about a tbsp you add or a soup spoon. Eyeballing it usually works well. Bring the soup to a boil and then allow to simmer for about 15-20mins. Up to you if you want to let your kid watch the boil start. I always stay with her during this time.
While you wait for the soup to cook, work on cleaning up. She always wants to clean the dishes in the sink but this gives me anxiety so I avoid it!
Your squash will cook quickly but make sure that your potatoes are cooked through by piercing them with the tip of a sharp knife.
Her daddy helped her buzz the soup with an emmersion blender. Make sure an adult is present when using electric kitchen supplies.
And if they are handling it well and your feel comfortable don't be afraid to let them do it "all by myself!" (surpervised of course.)
You want to get it as smooth as possible.
She then added in two big spoonfuls of greek yogurt. Feel free to omit or you can add in heavy cream or creme fraiche instead.
I always have her taste and as her if it's good. I then ask if she thinks it needs some salt or lemon for some acid. She doesn't know what that means but overtime, she will.
The kind of stuff that I want to control and drives me crazy. Hair in the soup.
It's special when they get to eat a meal they just prepared. I swear it makes my daughter accept "yucky" stuff easier.
Story
We keep our squash on the balcony. It’s cold out. They keep much longer in the cold and don’t take up any space in the fridge. Plus, they look so cute! We usually get our collection from a farm outside of Paris. We bring back as many as we can carry because they are affordable and simply perfect.
I usually make this butternut soup for guests because it is such a simple soup and tastes very luxurious. Orange may be one of my favorite colors to see on the table, it’s just so vibrant and makes me happy. I make a big pot in hopes for leftovers.
I like to add some potato to take down the sweetness of the butternut. The potato also adds a creaminess that I welcome. If you like sweet soups you can omit the potatoes all together or you could add in a sweet potato. I like to use creme fraiche for the slight acidity it brings but feel free to use whichever dairy you prefer or none at all.
I am making an effort to serve dishes in their simplest form, meaning very little or no decor at all. It ain’t easy being a girl that used to care only about making “pretty dishes” but I am loving the challenge of holding back and allowing the food to speak for itself.
This dish is perfect practice for it. You could and I encourage you to, if you want, to add some fried sage leaves, toasted pumpkin seeds or a drizzle of cream. Do what makes you happy about your dish.
*a note on peeling squash of any kind. I dislike this and try to avoid it. I learned the trick in this recipe a few years back and use it almost each time I cook with butternut to save time and energy.
Pop the whole squash in the oven and roast it until it has steamed itself cooked. This process is a little long but hands off and makes it so much easier to manage. See below for details. Enjoy!
