Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Bacon-Parsley Salad, Apples and Beet Oil
Chefs prioritize using the finest ingredients. Often, these foodstuffs jolt us with sticker shock.
On the less swanky end, let’s consider the Farm to Table movement, which emphasizes locally grown, seasonal produce. Local farmer’s markets are awesome. The growers sell conscientiously nurtured, organic produce.
However, even the pedestrian eggplant comes with a hefty price tag.
And, let’s say you drive thirty minutes for a just-picked-this-morning butternut squash. BUT, the local farmer just sold the last one. So, what’s the alternative? Walmart.
Huh? Don’t people go shopping on horseback at Walmart? For everyday low prices, of course.
Yes and yes. When we think of Walmart, inexpensive goods come to mind. Like crayons or plastic hangers. Walmart doesn’t conjure up images of the extravagant, visually appealing haute cuisine.
Yet, Walmart sells every ingredient and piece of equipment you need to make the soup at the top of the page.
Take a look at the video detailing the Walmart experience and making the soup. Please note: No horses were used to make this video.
A note on the soup: You can simply roast the squash and blend it with the stock and have an excellent first course soup. However, the extra steps guarantee a soup with a luxurious, silky texture. The texture of haute cuisine.
Serves 4
1 medium sized butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks.
3 tablespoons olive oil. (2 for roasting the squash, 1 for the salad.)
2 cups vegetable stock (Recipe follows. Store bought stock is perfectly OK. Look for the no sodium variety.)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup parsley leaves
5 strips of applewood smoked bacon, cut into ¼ by 1 inch strips. You only need four for the dish but you’ll also want a snack. Also, if you’d like a vegan dish, Walmart sells vegan bacon!
16 balls of Red Delicious apple, kept in a bowl of cold water mixed with a little lemon juice.
16 balls of Grannysmith apple, kept in a bowl of cold water and a little lemon juice.
Beet oil (recipe follows)
Method:
Prepare the soup: Toss the butternut squash with 2 tablespoons olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Roast the butternut squash in a 400 degree oven until soft-about 20 to 25 minutes. Puree in a food processor until smooth. Push the puree through a strainer. Blend the puree along with the vegetable stock and apple cider vinegar for 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Strain the soup and refrigerate it if you’re not using the soup immediately. You can make the soup up to 2 days in advance.
Make the salad: Cook the bacon strips in a non-stick skillet over medium low heat until crispy. Drain and set aside to cool. Go ahead and snack on the remaining bacon strip. Nobody’s watching and everybody does it.
Gently toss the bacon strips with the parsley and remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil.
Assembly:
Re-heat the soup. Yes, nuke it if you’re in a hurry.
Pack a ring mold with the bacon-parsley salad and place it in the center of a bowl. Or, just carefully place some salad in the middle of the bowl.
Pour ½ cup of the soup around the salad.
Place 4 red and 4 green apple balls next to each other around the salad. Fill in the empty spaces with beet oil. Serve immediately.
Beet oil
1 cup fresh beet juice or 1 cup store bought beet juice. You can buy beet juice at Walmart!
3 tablespoons canola oil.
Slowly reduce the beet juice to 3 tablespoons. Whisk the beet juice thoroughly with the canola oil to create an emulsion.
Quick Vegetable Stock
1 onion
1 carrot
1 leek
1 small red bell pepper
1 small fennel bulb
1 head garlic, cut in half
1 tablespoon canola oil
3 cups water
8 sprigs thyme
Dice the onion, carrot, leek, bell pepper and fennel as finely as possible. Sweat the vegetables and garlic in the canola oil over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Add the water, bring to a simmer. Add the thyme and simmer for 45 minutes, skimming frequently. Strain, pressing the vegetables with a ladle to extract as much liquid as possible.
Yield: about 2 cups stock.
If you enjoy soup or have ever ridden a horse to Walmart, please like and share.
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