roasted butternut squash, leek & apple soup
+ some thoughts on showing up IRL (and here on Substack)
Happy new year friends!
I promise you won’t find any “NEW YEAR, NEW YOU” nonsense around here… because I think you’re pretty great just as you are.
Honestly, I'm still processing all that happened in 2023 (both personally and in the world). All I know is that ever since we welcomed a new baby to our family a few months ago, so many people have shown up for us in big and small ways, and it has meant the absolute world.
As I’ve been reflecting on the new year, I really just want to be someone who shows up for people. Someone who drops off dinner without being asked, who holds the baby so mom can take a shower, who spends an hour sitting with a lonely neighbor, who mails birthday cards and thank you notes (on time!), who sends texts to encourage a friend going through a rough season. I tend to be so head-down focused on of my own work/life that I forget to look up and check on all the people I love. And the older I get, the more I feel like that's all that really matters, isn't it? Just showing up for each other.
And that includes showing up in a real way here on Substack. I’ll be honest that for most of the past year on this platform, it’s been a one-way conversation. Each week I’d get on my laptop, type up a new post, hit publish, close my computer and call it a day.
But as I’ve spent more time here, I can see that I’ve been missing the whole damn point. Yes, Substack is a place where I can share my passion for growing + cooking good food, and it’s been an exciting creative outlet on a personal level. But what I can finally see is that this is a community teeming with writers, creatives, makers, poets, experts and dreamers who have an abundance of beauty and brilliance to share with the world. I’m kicking myself for not engaging more with all the readers + writers in the Substack orbit sooner, but I’m here now and hopefully making up for lost time as I take time each day to read, comment, re-stack, and dig deeper into this wildly diverse ecosystem.
Forgive the food metaphor (I can’t help myself), but if you think about it, cultivating community (here on Substack and IRL) is a lot like making sourdough starter from scratch. It’s a bit awkward and messy in the beginning, and you’ve got to tend to it day after day, even when it feels like nothing is happening. And eventually, given enough time and careful tending, it will bloom and bubble over into a wild and altogether unpredictable thing, and from that wild thing you can create something entirely new and delicious and greater than yourself.
On that note… whether you’re here for the first time or you’ve been reading since the beginning, let’s get to know each other better! Please do take a quick moment and leave a comment and share a bit about yourself. What’s something that you’re especially excited about (and/or challenged by) this season? And if you have a Substack newsletter, share the info so I/we can follow along and support you. :)
I’ll go first. I’m Michelle – a vegetable farmer, trained cook, and educator based in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Our family is made up of five blondes: me, my husband Matthew, two kids (our toddler, Sawyer and 10-week old baby girl, Hudson), and our sweet floof of a dog, Arlo. We live on a 10-acre vegetable farm down the road from a funky little village called Saxapahaw, and right now I’m in the thick of balancing early motherhood with managing my work as a farmer and educator. I was born and raised in the midwest, I’ve got a soft spot for ugly vegetables, I’m a proud Swiftie, and after a long day in the dirt I love few things more than a frozen pepperoni pizza hot out of the oven (because sometimes, that’s what it looks like to actually eat like a farmer).
Okay, your turn!
PS – I fully realize some of you are just here for a soup recipe, and I promise, it’s coming, keep reading! And thanks for sticking around. :)
PPS – For new readers, a heads up that you can gain full access to my ever-growing index of simple, seasonal recipes, along with my handy gardening guides by becoming a paid subscriber.
Need some culinary inspiration for the weekend? Here’s my weekly round up of hyper-seasonal recipes from around Substack to help you eat like a farmer:
Rolled Spinach Omelet from deb perelman / the smitten kitchen digest
Sweet Potatoes Escabeche from Kate Bittman / The Bittman Project
Honeynut, Sage & Chickpea Soup from Clare de Boer / The Best Bit
Also! It’s the first Friday of the month, which means I’m sharing some favorite things that I’m especially digging right now…
Reading – TBH, I really miss reading books. But at night (when I would normally be reading) there’s a sweet baby sleeping in a bassinet next to my bed, which means I can’t turn on my light to read, which means I’ve been digging into some of the fabulous writing here on Substack instead. A few of my favorite writers right now include Kate Hill , who will transport you to the French countryside via The Camont Journals with Kate Hill, Will Cooper and his gorgeous, peaceful writing from an organic farm in the rural English countryside over on A Private Chef, and Molly Ella who shares thoughtful, inspiring notes from the Scottish Highlands in Slow Scottish Stories .
Watching – Seeing as I’m usually asleep by 9pm and don’t have much time/bandwidth for movies, I just started re-watching Schitt’s Creek from the beginning. It’s the perfect 22-minute escape that makes my very tired brain feel very happy, and I can confirm it’s even funnier the second time around.
Listening – I recently borrowed/stole Matthew’s sound-cancelling headphones, and there are a few songs I’ve been listening to on repeat (while blocking out sounds of a shrieking toddler): Far from Here by Emmit Fenn (the first minute is especially lovely), I Am Appalachia by Josiah and the Bonnevilles (I’m a sucker for an acoustic guitar riff), You’re Losing Me by Taylor Swift (it destroys me every time), and anything by Adrianne Lekner (oldie but a goodie).
Wearing – I’m not a big make-up wearer, but I do feel better about myself when I spend a quick 5 minutes in the morning putting myself together just a tad. I was recently influenced by the (infinite number of) Instagram ads for Merit, and wouldn’t you know, everything I’ve tried has lived up to the hype! So far, I’m really enjoying the flush balm, day glow balm, and this brow volumizing thingy.
As I shared a few weeks ago, I’m very much on a soup kick.
Today’s recipe for roasted butternut squash, leek and apple soup is a tried and true favorite, and it’s one I often make with students in my culinary workshops (there’s a good bit of veggie chopping involved, so it’s great for practicing knife skills).
Making this soup is super straightforward – Step one, chop and roast some veggies. Step two, blend the roasted veggies with a warmed + spiced broth. Voila! You’ve got one heck of a vibrant, velvetyyyy smooth, golden-hued winter soup. This recipe is especially geared towards eating like a farmer in the depths of January, as it’s filled with produce that tend to store well through the winter (butternut squash, onions, apples, etc).
And if you’re like me and you’ve been nursing a cold all week, this soup is basically nature’s medicine in a bowl, because it’s packed with warming spices and immune-boosting ingredients like garlic and apple cider vinegar.
Keep scrolling for the full recipe (and a handy 1-page PDF for easy printing), which was adapted from Sara Britton and her blog, My New Roots.
A reminder that access to my weekly recipe is available to paid subscribers (free subscribers get access to full recipes once a month on the 1st Friday, aka TODAY)!
To get in on this deliciousness EVERY week, consider joining as a paid subscriber. You’ll also get access to my full recipe archive, gardening guides, monthly giveaways, and you’ll be able to join our private community chats.
Roasted Butternut Squash, Leek & Apple Soup
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS
1 large butternut squash (3lbs), peeled and chopped to ½” dice
3 leeks, sliced into ½” rounds
1 large (or 2 small) Granny Smith (or other tart green apple), peeled and chopped to ½” dice
1 large yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
6 cups vegetable or chicken broth (or water)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, plus more to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Prepare the vegetables: combine 1 diced butternut squash, 3 sliced leeks, chop 1 diced Granny Smith apple, 1 diced yellow onion and 4 whole cloves of garlic (peeled) in a large bowl. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and a pinch of freshly ground pepper to the bowl and use your hands to toss everything until the veggies are coated in oil.
Pour the prepared vegetables out evenly onto two rimmed baking sheets (it will be too crowded all on one tray). Set the trays in the oven and roast for 35-40 minutes, stirring at least once halfway through cooking, until the veggies are very tender and beginning to brown (make sure the little leek bits don’t burn).
While the veggies are roasting, pour 6 cups of vegetable or chicken broth into a small saucepan along with 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon cumin, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon cardamom, and 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar. Bring the broth + spices to a very low simmer.
When the vegetables are finished roasting, blend the soup in batches by transferring a few cups of roasted vegetables into a standing blender, along with a few cups of the warmed broth, blending on high until completely smooth. As you work in batches, transfer the blended soup into a stockpot.
Alternatively, you can combine the roasted vegetables and warmed broth in a stockpot and blend everything with an immersion/stick blender. The soup might not get as velvety smooth with the immersion blender, but you’ll have fewer dishes to clean.
Once the soup has been blended, taste and adjust seasoning as needed – I like salt, so I usually add another teaspoon of kosher salt. For a bit more acidity, add another splash of apple cider vinegar. Add additional broth/water if you prefer a thinner soup. Or for a thicker soup, simmer everything for a bit to allow some water to evaporate.
Ladle the soup into bowls and serve as-is, or garnish with toasted nuts/seeds, plain yogurt, creme fraiche, and/or caramelized onions or leeks.
That’s all for this first week of 2024! If you enjoyed, it would mean the world if you tapped that “heart” button below, share this with a friend, subscribe, or leave a comment. Thank you so much, I’m thrilled you’re here. :)
Hello Michelle! Welcome to this new Substack world. Thanks so much for reading and enjoying my memoir- Finding France 🇫🇷 and sharing with your readers! And yes roasted Butternut Squash anything!!!
Thank you for the mention.