Vegan MoFo 11: Carrot, Squash and Bean Bisque

Another from 500 Vegan Recipes!

I did make a few changes. I used two kinds of squash because I had one lone carnival squash languishing in my pantry, and I picked up a small butternut as called for by the recipe. I tossed an apple in too, since I wanted to use it before it went soft and it seemed like an autumny thing to do.

I also took a tip from one of the other recipes in the book and topped the soup with kale chips. This was my first time making them, which is weird because it seems like every vegan is required to do it, but they're good. I took the recipe from 500 Vegan Recipes as well. I think next time, I'll double the nooch though. I was sort of anticipating something a little less healthy-tasting, but I'm still a fan.

The soup is very thick and filling, but the taste is light. The apple I added sweetened it, but it was lovely and savory before I did so. I would actually probably skip the apple in the future. I noticed the absence of salt in the ingredient list - this soup gets its flavor from sesame oil, miso, and a few other things, and the flavor doesn't suffer for it. So if you are or have someone in your life who tries to avoid salt, here's an idea.

This soup also gets points for being easy to make! I soaked the beans and roasted the squash the night before - I had to since my landlord has decided to not turn on the heat yet and it's freezing here! So it came together in under 10 minutes, and simmered on the stove for maybe 20 total. Even if I had done everything in one night though, there's a lot of inactive time, which of course means mutlitasking.