Pressure-Cooker Southwestern Pork and Squash Soup — The Soup We Made Together When Everything Changed

Peter came. He flew from Chicago on Friday and drove to Duluth and walked in the door and he looked — different. Not thin anymore. Not haunted. Different. Quieter. Settled. Like a man who has been through a storm and found land. He's been sober for six months. I didn't know the exact number until he told me — sitting at the kitchen table on Saturday morning, drinking coffee (actual coffee, not beer, not whiskey, not the thing I've been afraid of), he said: "Six months, Mom. Since February." I said, "I'm proud of you, Peter." He said, "I'm not proud yet. But I'm trying." He spent the weekend with Paul. He sat beside the wheelchair for hours, reading to his father — not shipwrecks (that's Elsa's territory) but history books, biographies of presidents, the kind of dense, analytical history that Paul loves and that Peter, surprisingly, reads. Father and son, in the living room, the hiss of the ventilator the only sound besides Peter's voice. Peter read a passage about Lincoln and Paul typed: "LINCOLN UNDERSTOOD LOSS." Peter said, "He understood a lot of things." Paul typed: "TELL ME WHAT YOU UNDERSTAND, PETE." Peter was quiet. Then he said: "I understand that I wasted time. That I drank instead of showing up. That the divorce was —" He stopped. Paul typed: "GO ON." Peter said: "The divorce was my fault too. Not just hers. Mine too. I wasn't there." Paul typed: "YOU'RE HERE NOW." You're here now. The simplest absolution. From a father who can't speak, through a machine that can't feel, to a son who needs to hear it. Peter helped me in the kitchen — genuinely helped. He peeled and chopped and stirred and he said, "I want to learn to cook, Mom. Like you." I said, "You can start with soup." We made wild rice soup together — me directing, Peter executing. He stirred the roux. He added the stock. He tasted and adjusted and tasted again. The soup was good. Not great. But good. A starting point. Peter left on Sunday. He hugged Paul — long, the Johansson long hug that only happens when things are serious. He said, "I'll be back, Dad. Every month." Paul typed: "BRING SOUP." Peter laughed. A real laugh. The sound of a man who is finding his way back. I stood in the driveway and watched him drive away and I thought about the Johansson men: Pappa, who drank. Lars, who died. Erik, who stayed. Peter, who's coming back. The patterns change. The men change. The stubbornness remains. Peter is coming back. Every month. With soup.

Peter asked me to write down what we made that Saturday — said he wanted to try it on his own in Chicago, though the recipe we actually followed that day was looser than any I’ve written here, adjusted on the fly the way cooking with someone new always is. This Pressure-Cooker Southwestern Pork and Squash Soup is the version I’ve since tidied up: the same warmth, the same depth, the kind of pot that fills a kitchen with something that smells like intention. It is a good soup to learn on. It is a good soup to come home to. Paul’s instructions for next time were clear enough: bring soup.

Pressure-Cooker Southwestern Pork and Squash Soup

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 1 medium butternut squash (about 2 lbs), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Juice of 1 lime
• Fresh cilantro and sour cream, for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. Sauté the aromatics. Select the sauté function on your pressure cooker and heat the olive oil. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3–4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
2. Brown the pork. Add the pork cubes in a single layer (work in batches if needed) and cook for 3–4 minutes, turning once, until lightly browned on two sides. The pork does not need to be cooked through at this stage.
3. Add the remaining ingredients. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Add the butternut squash, black beans, diced tomatoes (with their liquid), corn, and chicken broth. Stir to combine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
4. Pressure cook. Secure the lid and set the valve to sealing. Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. When the cooking cycle is complete, carefully perform a quick release of the pressure.
5. Finish and adjust seasoning. Remove the lid and stir the soup gently — the squash will have softened and begun to thicken the broth slightly. Squeeze in the lime juice and taste for salt. Add more salt or chili powder as needed.
6. Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with fresh cilantro and a dollop of sour cream if desired. Serve with warm crusty bread or cornbread alongside.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 318 | Protein: 27g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 31g | Fiber: 7g | Sodium: 620mg