It’s been cooler this week—climes in the seventies rather than the eighties or nineties—and I relished every moment. I pulled on sweaters and tights. I drank mug after mug of tea. I piled every blanket I could on top of myself. And I daydreamed about the moment when I would start craving soups and squashes and all the other cozy foods of autumn.
People always cock their head at me in confusion when I say I don’t like heat. But you’re from Hawaii, they exclaim, isn’t it hot all the time there? Not really. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, most of the time it’s a 75 to 80 degree kind of perfect, with soft tradewinds to boot. But I grew up on the slopes of Haleakala mountain, at an elevation where olive trees and grapes happily coexist with passion fruit and banana. It’s sweater weather most of the time.
Here in LA, I sweat, I crank the AC, I pray for divine cooling intervention. And then, a few days at a time (the heat is about to return—tomorrow’s high is forecast at 92º), I throw myself into autumn with every last earth tone and cozy meal. And sometimes, when I’m really, really lucky, it rains. Like yesterday.
The rain came and went before I was awake, but it left a perfect glow of cool hovering over the city. I decided to explore Franklin Canyon under its protective cover, one of LA’s many wild places I had yet to visit before yesterday. I’d been promised trails under cover of trees and brush, and even a lake. And it delivered on each of those promises—just twenty minutes from my door, an oasis of green and glittering plant life immune to the grating rush of traffic and urban sprawl.
Of course, I spent a great deal of the hike wondering if it was safe for me to be there alone. It’s a conversation I have with myself often, as I know so many of us do—and as evidenced by the friendly couple who I passed on my way back. Is it safe for women to walk here alone?, the woman asked benignly, smiling from her safe triad of self-husband-dog. When I confessed I didn’t know, that it was my first time and I’d been wondering the same, she apologized for worrying me even further. It’s ok, I said, we’re all thinking about it.
I did feel safe as I walked back, but I also wondered about protecting myself, and felt similar flares of frustration arise as I ticked through my options: Come with a friend, come with a man, come with a dog. I wish it were enough just for me to be there. I wish I (we all) could just feel safe. Do you feel safe on trails like this? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Having returned to my car unscathed, I decided it was time for soup.
I wanted a big pot of warming green soup, topped with my favorite fall flavors: Kabocha squash, fennel, coriander, and cumin. The soup is easy as pie: steamed vegetables blended with water, miso, hemp, ginger, and spices. The kabocha is roasted tender, then blended with yogurt (or coconut milk, for a vegan version) and water for a creamy sauce, with some reserved for toothy bites on top.
This is uber clean food: Miso is packed with digestion and immunity boosting live cultures, hemp seeds provide dense plant protein and omega fatty acids, and kale delivers a soup-ladle full of chlorophyll and minerals. The rest is golden, beta-carotene- and vitamin-rich goodness.
Feel free to add other roasted veggies to the mix, or use any squash of your liking—kabocha not required.
MISO KALE SOUP WITH KABOCHA SQUASH CREAM.
Ingredients
kabocha squash cream
- 12 inch kabocha squash crescents (about half a large kabocha squash washed, seeded, and sliced ½-¾ thick)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup plain yogurt or coconut milk
- ¼-½ cup filtered water to taste
- 2 pinches sea salt more to taste
miso kale soup
- 4 cups water or vegetable stock
- 4 cups thinly sliced onion (about 1 large onion sliced)
- 2 large bunches kale leaves washed, stems removed, and torn, about 2 dozen leaves
- 4 cups steam water from above
- 3-4 inches fresh ginger coarsely chopped
- 6 tablespoons miso paste
- 4 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 4 tablespoons hemp seeds
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425º and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place squash crescents on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with coriander, cumin, fennel, and sea salt. Turn to coat evenly in oil and spices. Roast for 20-25 minutes, until beginning to brown. Remove from heat and set aside while you make the soup.
- Place water or vegetable stock in a large sauce pan and add a metal steamer basket. Cover and bring water to a boil. Add sliced onion and steam until transparent, about 8 minutes. Add kale and steam another 2 minutes, until tender and bright green. Remove from heat and transfer kale and onions to a blender or food processor. Add most of the steam water or stock from the pan, and the ginger, miso, coconut oil, coriander, hemp seeds, and salt. Blend until completely smooth, then taste and adjust salt as desired. If you want a thinner soup, add more steam water or stock. Return to sauce pan and keep covered while you make the kabocha cream.
- Remove skin from squash slices with a small paring knife, and set aside 4 crescents to chop up for garnish. Place yogurt or coconut milk and water in rinsed out blender or food processor, then add the remaining squash (about ¾ cup, packed) and salt. Blend until completely smooth, adjusting water and salt as desired.
- Chop up the remaining 4 squash crescents. Serve soup topped with kabocha cream, chopped kabocha squash, and toasted pumpkin seeds.
