Even as winter blows its final bluster, as the snow piles still seem endless, we all know that eventually it will melt, and the seasons will shift once more. Here, on the tail end of winter, we look around for what color we can find, especially when it comes time for dinner.
This is a time of year when our bodies still want hearty but our minds have turned towards the healthy, and so in this newsletter we’ll endeavor to bring you a delightful dinner that’s packed with local veggies, vibrant color, and a hearty helping of essential nutrients. All while still bringing that warmth and comfort of savory winter dishes.
The availability of local produce at this time of year is a restriction that inspires and directs our meal. Root vegetables and hearty squashes are still full of flavor, bushels of onions wait in cold storage, and we can also turn to the pantry for supplementation. Dried red lentils are a powerhouse for this dish, they bring their beautiful tones as well as micro and macro nutrients. Then we cube up a butternut squash for a slightly sweet topper.
We’ll need the following items:
3T Olive Oil
3T Tamari
1 can Coconut Milk, unsweetened
1lb Onions
.5 lbs Carrots
1x Butternut Squash
1x Tomato
1x Lemon (for juice, and garnish)
1x bch Cilantro (also as garnish)
1 Qrt. Chicken or Vegetable Stock
1lb Chicken Breast or Tofu
A thumb of Ginger
6x cloves Garlic
2 T Salt
2 t Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
1 T Cumin
1 T Tumeric
1 T Smoked Paprika, Chili Powder, or Cayenne (I used cayenne, but I like heat)
I used a 4.5 qrt crock pot and yielded roughly 12 cups of soup.
The next element we want to bring in is a variety of flavors. With a simple spice mix and a slice of fresh citrus, layered on top of a strong base of aromatics, and garnished with minced cilantro for a bright finish we can rest assured of the complexity of our flavor profile. We do want to round this meal’s macros out with some solid proteins, in the form of chicken and/or tofu.
Any good cook can tell you prep is non-negotiable, so let’s get our ingredients ready for the pot.
We’ll start by peeling our carrots and onions, and give each a fine chop so they break down easily while cooking. Pro Tip: Save the trimmings from your veg for your next stock pot!
Next we want to take our tomato and dice into one inch cubes. Set aside in a container that can hold the liquids until ready for use.
Our final veggie prep is the butternut squash. Use your chef’s knife to cut along the outside to remove the hard and waxy skin (these are basically the only parts of the veggie prep that can’t be used in a later stock pot). Then we’ll also slice the vibrant veggie into one inch squares for baking.
Now we turn on our burner to medium low, pre-heat the oven to 400, and get ready for the main event! Once the pan is up to temp we put in a tablespoon of olive oil and follow it up with the onions and a pinch of salt, stay close and keep stirring as we want these all so start sweating and building flavor.
Once everything is translucent we can drop in our carrots and get them cooking. As everything softens up we do look to grab as much flavor now as we can. Once the moisture has cooked off and the sounds of the pan turn towards sauteing, we’ll want to keep cooking until we see a nice amount of fond building up. This is often browning on our veggies and a build-up on the bottom of the pan. Once there is some build up we can push the veg to the sides of the pan to open a space in the middle and pour in the tomatoes.
The liquid will deglaze the fond, but we don’t want to mix everything up right away. Leaving the tomato in the center (often where the most heat is) allows us to reduce the liquid down while still starting to get that Maillard reaction at the edges.
Using the fresh tomato gains us those complex flavors, but if you’d like to skip reducing more liquid down then you can substitute in tomato paste for this step. Just make sure to allow the paste to sit alone in the center for a few moments, this provides the same sort of browning and caramelization but at a fraction of the time.
Once everything is browned and flavorful we’ll mix in the spices and then the final aromatics. We start with the spices to let them hit the hot oil, we want them to bloom and infuse in the whole dish.
Give the pot a few stirs until it becomes fragrant, then we add in the ginger and garlic. We want to activate these as well, once everything is incorporated we bring in the lentils. I add another tablespoon of olive oil, let that come up to temp, then add in the rinsed lentils.
Allowing the lentils to start to toast will bring a nutty flavor to the final product, stirring regularly at a medium high temp. Three to five minutes is more than enough, we don’t need any burnt flavors, just toasty ones.
Now is the final steps for our soup, we’ll stir in one full quart of broth. Keep it veggie if you like, or add a hearty chicken stock of your choice. We’ll also add in our can of Coconut Milk now, stirring it into the broth. Then we cover, bring to a simmer, and turn down the heat.
The red lentils only need about 20 minutes to half an hour to cook through, once they are soft we can hit them with an immersion blender. If you don’t have one you can remove a few cups and blend, or simply give a good effort mashing.
The intent is to even out the texture of the whole soup and bring a silky nature while thickening the mix. Now is when we should give it a taste, add a tablespoon of Tamari to bring up the saltiness, and round out the umami profile.
You can turn it down low, cover it, and let it simmer while we prepare the rest of the dish.
We still have our protein and butternut squash squares to make.
For the tofu we press it with a heavy weight and some towels to soak up the extra water. Then we slice into rectangles and lay them out with some parchment paper on a baking tray. For seasoning I used a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon of tamari, and some grated ginger and garlic. And then into the oven at 400 degrees for twenty minutes, or until browned. I tossed the squash squares with some cumin, some turmeric, a pinch of salt, and a tablespoon of olive oil. Also on a baking try with parchment paper, and into the oven for twenty minutes at 400. Give them a stir half way though, and pull once they are soft and nicely browned.
Finally, if your choice of protein is the Chicken then I suggest a quick pan sear and tamari glaze. I oiled a pan and seared both sides and the edges. Once it had started to set up nicely, I dashed in a tablespoon of Tamari to deglaze and bring a deep color to the whole piece.
When the tamari starts to brown the bottom of the pan, I use a touch more oil to emulsify the sauce, and serve immediately.
Would you like to try this recipe yourself? We’ve got a sale on all the local produce and many of the staples we used for this dish on our Circulars!!! See below for all the details on these great deals.
Circulars and Sales Shown Valid 3/2/2026 – 3/16/2026