Butternut Squash-Leek Soup & Savory Harira Soup

a frozen mirror of ice is covering our most recent snow. it is the perfect time to warm the house with the stove and some savory soup and I have 2 recipes I have been chomping at the bit to try, Butternut Squash-Leek Soup ( Cooking Light from about 6 years ago) and Harira (Moosewood Restaurant Low Fat Recipes).

Butternut Squash-Leek Soup
I picked up some locally grown squash a few weeks back that has kept well on the back porch. I also used and some frozen acorn squash that I had roasted, puréed and froze. This recipe was very easy to whip up. I have to admit my soup looks deceptively like split pea not squash... the leeks won out in the coloring! My recipe is photo coped so I have no idea if I am close to what it should look like.

1 whole garlic head
4 tsp olive oil
6 cups thinly sliced leek (about 4 large)
4 cups cubed and peeled butternut squash (about 1 med) *I used locally grown acorn and potatoes
2 cups water
2 cups broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper (I prefer white)

-preheat the oven to 350
- remove white papery skins from the garlic (do not peel or separate the cloves). slice the tops off, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil and bake for about 1 hour. cool at least 10 minutes
- heat olive oil in pan over med-high head. Add leeks, Sauté about 5-8 minutes or until tender. Stir in the garlic (squeeze the roasted garlic from the head), 2 cups water, squash, broth, salt, and pepper; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer at least 10 minutes until the squash is tender.
- use a blender or a hand held mixer to puree the ingredients. Be careful NOT TO BURN yourself.

4-6 servings (1cup) approx 167 calories, 3.5g fat, 5g fiber, 3mg iron, 144mg calcium

Harira
so says moosewood... "harira is traditionally served in North Africa at the evening meal during Ramadan, the Muslim month of daytime fasting." This soup is very fragrant when cooking and wonderfully balanced when served. I am not use to cinnamon in soup and thought this had an amazing scent while cooking although I was hesitant. Actually, I was sure I just wasted my time and food preparing this. Dan (my chocolate chip eating husband) surprisingly preferred this soup to the squash-leek. This is an wonderful soup with a lovely balance of flavors. I did not experiment much with this recipe but next time may use healthful sweet potatoes instead of the white.

1 cup chopped onion
4 cups stock (I used 5)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 cup peeled and diced carrots
1/2 cup celery (I omitted with no regrets)
1 cup undrained canned tomatoes, chopped
1 1/2 cups diced potatoes
pinch of saffron
1 cup cooked chickpeas (1/2 or 1/3 cup dried)
1 cup cooked lentils (1/2 or 1/3 cup dried)
1 to 2 T chopped cilantro
1 T fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

- in covered soup pot simmer 1 cup broth and onions for 10 minutes.
- combine ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, and cayenne in a small bowl and add 2-3 T hot broth to make a paste
- stir the paste, carrots, celery, and the remaining stock. Bring to boil
- lower heat and add the tomatoes and potatoes and cook for about 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
- crumble in saffron. stir in the beans, cilantro, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste.

suggested to serve with lemon wedges.
4-6 servings
approx 186 cal, 9 g protein, 1.6g fat, 8g fiber