Here’s a recipe that has gone through a lot of evolution the past few months. Previous versions were even photographed and got ever so close to making it on a blog. Luckily they didn’t since in my opinion the final arrangement improved on its predecessors significantly.
A little background on the conception for this one. Anyone who shops at Trader Joe’s knows they have an excellent sample station near the back of the store. One day the fine folks at TJ’s were demoing an extremely simple but amazing soup which contained a mixture of their boxed pumpkin soup, coconut milk, butternut squash, and sriracha. The heart and soul of my recipe was born from this sample and if you want to lighten things up I definitely recommend making a go at the TJ’s original.
Spread out bacon on a sheet tray and lightly cover with black pepper. Place in a 400 degree oven for ~18 minutes turning bacon over at 10 minutes. When bacon is nice and crispy remove from oven and place on paper towels to remove excess grease.
Prep time! While bacon is cooking dice butternut squash and parsnips into 1/3 inch pieces and place in a large bowl for later. Cut broccoli into small florets and place in a separate bowl. Optionally remove skin from broccoli stalk and dice the core into bite size chunks and include with florets. Dice chicken thighs into bite size pieces and place in a container. Mince garlic clove and place in a small bowl or alternatively use a garlic press.
Heat 2 tbsp coconut oil (or other cooking oil) in a large pot over medium heat. After oil is shimmering hot add chicken and then garlic. Stir to coat. Once chicken is cooked through remove from the pot and place in a small container for later. Leave any chicken juices that remain in the pot.
Add to the pot the diced butternut squash and parsnips and stir to coat. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes and then add coconut milk and chicken stock. Reduce heat and allow the contents to cook over a low simmer.
Now melt coconut oil and coat broccoli with it (I like to use a large non-stick frying pan to perform this action). Spread out the broccoli on a sheet tray and sprinkle with salt+black pepper then place in the oven @400 degrees for 15 minutes.
Optional: After 15 minutes of simmering use a stick blender to liquefy approximately half the squash/parsnip chunks (upright blender could also be used but be careful since the contents will be very hot).
Add to the pot cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to taste (1-2 tsp). Next dump in the chicken and cooked broccoli and give everything a nice stir. Chop the bacon strips into small pieces.
When you are ready to serve ladle soup into a bowl topped with chopped bacon and sriracha.
