Simple Thai Roasted Butternut Bisque

Wanna impress just about anyone who steps foot in your home with minimal effort? Make this bisque. It requires some different-ish ingredients and a blender, but it's a relatively simple thing to prepare and it's outstanding. When they taste this bisque, your guests will worship you like the ancient Mesopotamians and live in spiteful fear of your culinary prowess. This recipe SLAYS most foodies, vegans, cross-fitters and mother-in-laws. 

No, not for real, Hammurabi. You wish!

(My middle schooler is in the throes of 6th grade history and Mesopotamia. Has absolutely nothing to do with Thailand, but, I couldn't resist the Hammurabi reference) 

Serves 4-6 
Prep: 30minutes. 

Costco. $6. Four bags of pre-diced squash.  

• 4 cups of Butternut squash (or one pkg of the picture)- roasted
• 1tbsp Coconut oil or Olive oil 
• 1 cup leeks chopped (lay off the green ends)  
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 3 cloves garlic- whole
• 2 cups Chicken or veggie stock
• 3 tsp Thai curry paste
• 1tsp sweet curry powder
• 1-2tsp Salt to taste  
• 1 cup Coconut milk (Canned or one 200ml package of creme de coco)
• Cilantro- chopped to garnish
• Lime- sliced into wedges 
• Sriracha- because Sriracha. 

Set your oven to 400º and prepare a large cookie sheet with non-stick spray or parchment. Add your chopped butternut squash. Lightly spray some of the cooking oil on the squash and a few pinches of salt. Roast them for 30 minutes. You'll see the edges start to golden and brown. You want that flavor. Roasting really brings out butternut squash's natural sweetness.

While the squash is roasting, prepare your leeks and garlic. There is no need to fancy-up the chopping process. We're going to puree EVERYTHING in the blender later on. No one's ever going to know how anal retentive you are.

Bummer.

In a medium stew pot, sauté your leeks and garlic in the coconut oil on medium- high setting. Don't burn them, just get them soft and happy. Next, add your squash and grated ginger. Add 1 cup of the stock, thai paste, sweet curry, and the freshly grated ginger. Turn down the heat, stir until well combined, and remove from heat.

Add the contents of the pot into your blender and blend well. If it's too thick and isn't blending properly, add more stock.

Once it is well incorporated and resembles a baby-food-like consistency reintroduce it to the pot over medium-low heat.

Add the coconut milk, reserving a few tablespoons for the swirly, knock 'em dead, garnish.

Taste it. Does it need a dab of salt? Hook it up to your taste buds, not mine.

This is a perfect soup to prepare before hand and place in a crock pot for later. Stays tasty until it's ready to eat. Garnishing with a swirl of reserved coconut milk, cilantro and lime is a MUST! It brings the entire bisque together and transforms it from "good" to "Dude, you made this?" I love Sriracha in mine, but, the heat is entirely up to your guests.

Now, if you wanna get all fancy, here's where you add coconut shrimp. The bisque is perfectly to die for without it, but, you can never over impress anyone, right?

Coconut Shrimp

1lb uncooked, deveined, large shrimp- peeled
1 cup Unsweetened coconut flakes 
1 cup Flour (if you are G-Free, use coconut flour)
2tsp garlic powder
1tsp salt
1tsp pepper
Egg wash (if you are vegan, use egg substitute) 
4 cups Peanut oil for frying (or Vegetable oil)


In a bowl, dip the shrimp in the egg wash.

Wait. What is an egg wash?    2 eggs + 4tbsp water (beat well) = egg wash

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and coconut flakes

Dip your shrimp in the egg wash and then coat in dry mixture. If you want it SUPER coated, repeat the dipping and coating process.

Heat your oil on high heat in a small pot. Once the oil is hot, add the shrimp a few at a time and fry until golden brown. Let the shrimp rest on a few paper towels, add a pinch of salt,  and serve with the soup.  Add a slice of Naan bread if your heart so desires? My heart always, ALWAYS, desires Naan.