Za’atar Spiced Butternut Squash Soup — The One I’m Not Committing to More Than Two Bags

September is ending and fall is fully here. The trees along the Provo River are in color and the air has that crispness that makes everything feel slightly more intentional, like the world has sharpened its edges after a summer of heat-blur. I drive the kids to school on the cold mornings and the mountain through the windshield is extraordinary, the kind of view that you have lived with your whole life and still notice, which I think is what gratitude actually means in practice: noticing something old as if it were new.

Sunday prep this week was the largest of the fall season: twenty-two meals, four hours even, the first time I have felt the full rhythm of the fall batch cooking that I forgot about during the summer cold-prep months. Minestrone soup, four bags. Beef stew, four bags. Chicken pot pie filling, four bags, to which the biscuit topping will be added fresh at cooking time because biscuit topping cannot be frozen without tragedy. White chicken chili, four bags. Pumpkin soup, two bags, which I am trying for the first time this year and which I am not committing to more than two bags until I know if this family will accept it. Noah, predictably, is suspicious of anything orange that is not a carrot or a cheese cracker.

Ethan had his first quiz of seventh grade in science and came home very calm about it, which means he either did well or has decided to be calm about it regardless. He will tell me the grade when he gets it, not before. He is twelve and already practices the emotional management of someone twice his age. I made him a grilled cheese when he got home and did not ask about the quiz because the grilled cheese was the thing he needed and the quiz would come to me when it was ready.

The two community center workshop appointments are both confirmed: one in Orem for the third week of October, one in Provo for November. I am counting. That will be four workshops total since June. That is not a business. But it is the beginning of something that might be.

Of the twenty-two meals that went into the freezer on Sunday, the pumpkin soup was the wild card — two bags, no more, until the verdict is in. This za’atar spiced butternut squash soup is the version I landed on, because butternut has a sweetness that feels less confrontational than straight pumpkin, and I figured if anything was going to win over a boy who is suspicious of all things orange, it would be something with a little warmth from the spice rather than just squash and nothing else. It freezes beautifully in quart bags, and if Noah approves, next Sunday it gets promoted to four.

Za’atar Spiced Butternut Squash Soup

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 large butternut squash (about 3 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cubed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon za’atar seasoning
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Extra za’atar and a drizzle of olive oil for serving

Instructions

1. Sauté the aromatics. Heat olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, za’atar, cumin, smoked paprika, and cayenne. Stir for 30 seconds until fragrant.
2. Cook the squash. Add the cubed butternut squash and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, until the squash is completely tender and falls apart easily when pressed with a spoon.
3. Blend until smooth. Remove the pot from heat. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until completely smooth. Alternatively, carefully transfer in batches to a countertop blender.
4. Finish the soup. Stir in the coconut milk and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If the soup is too thick, add a splash of broth or water to reach your preferred consistency.
5. Serve or freeze. Ladle into bowls and top with a sprinkle of za’atar and a drizzle of olive oil. To freeze for batch cooking, let cool completely, then pour into quart-sized freezer bags, lay flat, and freeze for up to 3 months.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 165 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 28g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 480mg