Lemony Yellow Squash and Rice Soup

For me, the happiest days are the days both Logan and I are off work, and can spend all day together goofing around, talking and laughing, and making some good food.

 

As today was one such day, I thought it was the perfect time to bust out a recipe recommended by Kelly--a Nigella Lawson recipe called "Happiness Soup."

I don't know if I'd go so far as to carry that name forward--it might carry a few too many expectations. But it sure was a big ol' bowl of sunshine.

This soup gets it's beautiful coloring not just from the squash, but also from turmeric. Besides apparently being a miracle spice that the Internet wants you to put in everything, turmeric is a pretty potent dye for everything from hands to fabric to your counter top. Every time I use it, I seem to spend as long scrubbing the yellow out of my counters as I do cooking. This time, though, I finally mastered the art of not spilling. I felt like I won a race (maybe? I have no idea what that feels like).

This soup comes together really quickly--the only time consuming part is slicing and dicing the squash super tiny. The resulting texture, fortunately, makes the knife work worthwhile.

The citrus aspect of the soup might be the most surprising--lemon does dominate the flavor. I think it would be quite pleasant to add some Italian parsley or cilantro to complement the lemon.

Oh, and I asked Logan what he'd say about the soup; he said, "it was good." So, there's that.

Over all, it's a bright and fairly healthy one-pot meal type of soup with like FIVE ingredients that can be thrown together in half an hour. If you can trick yourself through deft use of summer squash into thinking it's gorgeous out when it's 23 degrees, maybe this really is happiness soup.

For dinner we're making Brussels sprout and ricotta pizza. SOLID FOOD FOR DINNER? I might faint. Happiness Pizza.

Lemony Yellow Squash and Rice Soup

Adapted from some book by Nigella Lawson--not sure which because I just took an iPhone picture of the page in Kelly's book (also an excellent strategy for making grocery lists without writing a word)

serves 4

GET THIS STUFF

soup:

olive oil

18 oz. yellow squash (about 2 large or 3 medium)

1 lemon

1 t turmeric

1/2 c long-grain white rice (I used jasmine, Nigella recommends basmati)

4 c vegetable broth

to serve:

a few slices of ciabatta 

olive oil

1 clove of garlic, sliced

shaved Parmesan

DO THIS WITH IT

Very thinly slice the yellow squash, then finely dice.

Pour a good glug of olive oil in your soup pot and heat over medium low, then add squash and the zest of the lemon.

Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add turmeric, the juice of the lemon, broth and rice.

Cook uncovered until rice and squash are both cooked through, about 20 minutes.

While soup is cooking, heat oven to 400. 

In a small pan, heat olive oil and add garlic, cooking until garlic takes on just a little color and then taking off the heat.

Place bread on a baking sheet and brush with garlic oil. 

Top with shaved Parmesan, and bake until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 6 to 8 minutes.

Serve soup with a drizzle of the garlic-infused oil on top, and cheesy bread on the side.

If you have flaky sea salt, throw a few crystals on top of the soup as well. Yum!