Spicy Roasted Acorn Squash Soup.Hosting Weekend Herb Blogging #175

I'm delighted to be hosting this week, Weekend Herb Blogging,one of my favorite food events. Started by Kalyn and now conducted by Halo,WHB is now in its 4th successful year of showcasing every week ,food prepared using unique herbs,fruits and vegetables by bloggers around the world.


Lets make the rules for Weekend Herb Blogging clear:

1. Entries to Weekend Herb Blogging must be posts written specifically for Weekend Herb Blogging. This means they cannot be cross-posted in other events. Photos used in the posts however can be submitted to photo events like DMBLGIT.

2. Weekend Herb Blogging entries should have the goal of helping people learn about cooking with herbs or plant ingredients.

Only two types of entries will be accepted:
* Recipe posts where a herb or plant ingredient is one of the primary ingredients in the recipe
* Informative posts that spotlight one herb or plant ingredient, particularly including information about how they are used in cooking.
Naturally, posts can be a combination of both these criteria.

For the first time participants ,here are some clarifications in Kalyn's own words :
What does "one of the primary ingredients in the recipe" mean?
This means the dish could not be made without that herb or unusual plant ingredient. For example, chicken with sage cream sauce would be great; grilled chicken with parsley sprinkled on would not be okay.

What does "unusual plant ingredient" mean?
I realize that what's unusual varies greatly in different parts of the world, and I'm not saying people need to seek out something no one has ever heard of each week. Participants can certainly spotlight any ingredient that's unusual to them (for example I've never cooked with fennel, although it's not unusual to some people.) Unusual fruits and vegetables or spices are certainly welcome. It's my hope that this restriction will eliminate plant ingredients that are so ordinary no one is really interested in hearing about them.

3. Posts must contain the phrase Weekend Herb Blogging with a link to this post and to this page.

4. Mail me your entries at YasmeenHealthnut[at]gmail[dot]com with WHB in the subject line between March 16th to March 22th by:
3pm Sunday - Utah Time
10pm Sunday - London Time
9am Monday - Melbourne (Aus) Time
You can use this converter to find out the corresponding time in your location.

5. In email please include the following information:

* Your Name
* Your Blog Name/URL
* Your Post URL
* Your Location
* Attach a photo Minimum 350px wide

Recap will hopefully be posted on Monday.If you have any questions, please leave a comment or email me at YasmeenHealthnut[at]gmail[dot]com. Check the archives to get the picture of some unique recipes.
Heat up your kitchens ,I Hope to see unique and refreshing entries from all the enthusiastic foodies.

Following recipe is my entry for WHB #175.
Spicy Roasted Acorn Squash Soup
Acorn Squash belong to Winter Squash family,don't be mistaken by its name,these kind of squash are harvested in Fall and available year-round.With a long shelf life of 2-3 months,these squashes can be incredibly hard to peel and an easy way to cook them is to roast them.Using fresh herbs and spices while roasting is an added nutrition and flavor to these vitamin-rich squash.
Soup is got to be one the delightful dishes with the acorn squash.I stuffed the squash with spicy Onion tomato and herbs gravy and roasted it for a savory soup that makes a warm start of any meal.

Recipe
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 medium acorn squash,washed
1/2 a medium onion,chopped
1 big Plum tomato,finely chopped
1 big clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder\Cayenne pepper
1/2 a teaspoon each of cumin and coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoon Cilantro\Coriander,finely chopped
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 cup water or vegetable Stock

Method
Prepare the filling
Heat oil in a saucepan on medium heat,add onions and saute until lightly brown about 3-4 minutes,add the garlic ,saute for another minute before adding in the spices ,herbs and tomatoes.Cover and let cook about 5 minutes ,until tomatoes are tender.Now add a cup of water or vegetable stock and simmer for a minute.

Bake
Preheat oven to 400F(205C). Slice the top section of the squash ,clear the cavities of all the seeds(Don't throw them,toasted seeds are great for snacking) and threads.Set the squash on a baking sheet,pour in the filling and cover with the top.Let bake for about 50-60 minutes ,or until its soft to touch from outside.Also visible in the picture are the fingerling potatoes I baked along side the squash.

Blend
When cool enough to handle,pour back the filling in to the blender along with all scooped out pulp of the squash.Blend until smooth and return the soup in to the saucepan and allow to simmer for 2 minutes.Serve warm,topped with croutons.


Variation
If desired blend in a cup of cooked lentils(like Toor or Yellow Mung) puree for a smoother and even more nutritious soup.

Left Overs
The left over of this soup is great for making parathas(flat bread),just mix in a cup of left over soup in the wheat flour while making the dough ,for a wholesome spicy parathas.Or use as in a gravy with meat or vegetables.