Thank goodness Friday is almost here, I’m ready. And tomorrow is a big day for Skipper, he goes to an all day vet appointment to test his blood sugar, plasma, and other stuff to find out what’s going on with his canine diabetes and if the current insulin dosage is working.
I feel bad about leaving him at the vet all day, but he’s a pretty social and happy dog who charmed everyone at his last appointment, so hopefully it won’t freak him out. But Poor Leela has been a little freaked out lately and not eating a lot of her meals.
She’s been a little stressed with such a dog-crowded house now and still absolutely freaked whenever we get a fly inside the house which has been more frequently with Skipper going outside so much. Sigh, one day our dog drama will be settled.
I have a love/hate relationship with raw soups, they’re not my favorites. When I went to my first raw vegan class over 4 years ago, I watched the instructor make a creamy avocado zucchini soup and thought there’s no way that will taste good. Surprisingly it did with a cool and tangy flavor. It wasn’t mind-blowingly amazing, but much better than I thought. Still raw soups are something I still don’t make a lot of even though I like the concept – a healthy savory smoothie you eat with a spoon. But they’re not exactly a hearty meal food like a loaded salad covered in a flavorful dressing.
I pulled this cute little butternut squash from our garden and decided to try a raw soup recipe with it.
A daring recipe adapted from a very non-vegan balsamic recipe I came across awhile back. I threw out all the processed ingredients and came up with a whole foods raw version that worked so well it surprised me.
Raw Butternut Balsamic Soup
- 2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
- 1/4 cup shelled hemp seeds
- 2 tbsp. of raisins
- 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup water, as needed
Place all ingredients into a high speed blender and blend to a smooth and creamy texture. Serve and enjoy. Makes 1 large or 2 small servings.
I ran the Vitamix on this soup for about 3 minutes to get it very creamy and smooth blending the raisins and hemp seeds in thoroughly.
The color is gorgeous and seems to celebrate fall, which I’m ready for.
The texture is silky smooth, creamy, and light, not hitting my stomach like a rock.
But the flavor is a true unique experience for a fairly simple list of ingredients, it’s tangy and savory from the balsamic vinegar, but has a sweet playfulness from the squash and raisins.
And I’m glad more butternut squashes are popping up in our garden because I need to make this again soon.
Skipper is looking GREAT! Good luck at the vet! Leela – such a sweet face and a watchful eye! Our Suzie will skip meals every once and a while but nothing major. I hope she’s back up to par soon! This soup looks great! I will be doing a lot of soups next week! I blogged about it a bit today! I know what you mean about raw soups! I had a Tomato one I liked last year or so…might do that again at some point! HAPPY WEEKEND!