I have been wanting a spiralizer for some time now. But I also enjoy a sparse, mimilaist kitchen — the fewer dishes you have, the fewer there are to wash.
As you can see, the spiralizer was the eventual victor in this small countertop battle. It happened one tipsy night on a study break, an Amazon Drunk Order.
By the time it arrived, I was certainly sober. I told myself that I would not open the box until my board exam was over. And the wait was well worth it, I passed. It’s a huge weight lifted. I still have one step before I can work in my chosen field, but it’s totally fine. I like my current job and am getting great experience.
Now that I passed the test, I can enjoy the weekends, clean, run, play with my spiralizer. So far I haven’t experimented much. Beets, apples, butternut squash, sweet potato. I love the pretty translucent beet noodles and can’t wait to share a recipe with you, but right now I’m just enjoying them plain in salads.
These butternut noodles were fun to make, pouring out of the blades, curling up in a golden pile.
The inspiration for this soup came from…um…it came from a box. 😳 I ate a lot of tetra-pak Meijer brand butternut squash kale soup while I was in the final miles of studying. It was darn tasty for a boxed soup, but of course I wanted to make it fresh.
And fresh it was. Almost everything in this soup came from the farmers market. It’s about to close for the season. Insert FWP complaint about having to eat supermarket produce instead of local produce. But I will say that having a new butternut squash makes all the difference in butternut noodles. The farmers market squash produced thin, even, crisp noodles. The supermarket one produced broken noodles and were a limp and sometimes mushy. Here are some tips for finding a fresh and perfect squash.
This dish is thick and savory. I like creamy soups, but I like non-creamy soups better. Soups with various textures, soups you have to bite and sip and slurp. They just feel more filling, regardless of true caloric content.
Ingredients
- 3 lb butternut squash, long part only
- 4 carrots
- 2 russet potatoes
- 6 cups of kale (not packed)
- 1/2 cup purple onion
- 1/2 tbsp microplane-grated garlic
- 1/2 tbsp sumac
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes*
- 4 -5 cups of veggie broth
- salt to taste
Instructions
- spiralize your squash on the thinnest setting. Roughly chop the carrots, tear the kale into tiny bits. Cut the potatoes into little matchsticks.**
- Place the onion, garlic, bay leaf, sumac, and potatoes in a big pot. Add just enough broth of cover. Put the lid on the pot and cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes.
- Add the carrots and more broth to just cover, for 10 min.
- Add the crushed tomatoes. This will cool the soup. Allow to return to bubbling temp.
- Add the kale and broth to cover. Cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the noodles and remaining broth, cook for 3 more minutes.
- Serve hot and fresh. I toasted some rice squares to use as croutons, but you can use tortilla strips or real croutons or potato chips or whatever. You do you.
Notes
*I rarely use the whole can of crushed tomatoes. I pour cup-sized ammounts into baggies and just freeze them until I need them. ** don't skip this. Cutting them into matchsticks will allow accelerate the starch release, making for a nice thick soup.

This soup looks great!! I’m making soups/chilis/stews at least once a week now since the weather is cooler. Excited to try this version soon 🙂
I’m super into soups now too! I love making a huge batch at the beginning of the week so that dinner’s already ready when I get home. <3