I know what you’re thinking. It’s hot and humid and sticky and icky and the last thing I want is a bowl of baby food disguised as soup.
Is “summer soup” a total oxymoron? How bout jumbo shrimp? Boneless ribs? Cafeteria food? I mean those are all fine and dandy in my book. And why is it so darn hard to photograph soup? You’ll just have to trust me that it tastes fantabulous, conditional upon the fact that you devour it in an air-conditioned apartment. It’s summer’s finest in a bowl.
This soup was made for me because I absolutely adore roasted vegetables. I came home from the garden last week with a zucchini the size of my leg, literally. Naturally, I chopped that bad boy up and roasted it until it was perfectly brown and crispy. Honest to God, I could have easily eaten the whole pan. I didn’t put it on a plate and scarf it down with a fork like a normal person. Nope. I ate all the little pieces in all their succulent, seedy glory one by one (or three by three) with my fingers. The only reason I refrained from downing the whole pan was because I knew they would taste incredible in my eggs the next morning. I exercised serious self control.
Moral of the story: I love roasted veg, so why not drink them? Or eat ’em with a spoon? That, my friends, is how the idea was born to roast all the golden zucchini I got at the farmer’s market last week and blend it up into soup. Side note: you can totally use green zucchini; but beware, your soup will be green. Oh, and there most definitely is a difference between yellow squash and golden zucchini, people.
It’s really quite simple. Roast the vegetables. Let them get all brown and crispy and foodgasmically magical in the oven. Stir ’em into veggie broth, blend it up and call it soup. But don’t forget to add the cashew cream. Ohhhhhhh the freaking cashew cream. Oh lord.
You know how soups normally call for a bit of heavy cream? Well, cashews do a magical little thing when you let them soak in water. So before you go to bed tonight, put 1/4 cup of cashews into a bowl and cover them with warm water. The next day, blend them with some broth and say hello to the healthiest, creamiest soup topper you’ve ever laid mouth on. It’s creamy and satisfying from all the heart-healthy fats (bonus points); and it really does add the perfect velvety texture to this summer soup.
We should all sip on spoonfuls of pureed roasted vegetables more often, no?
Golden Zucchini & Summer Squash Soup
Golden Zucchini & Summer Squash Soup
- Prep Time: 45 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked
- 2 medium golden zucchini, diced (green zucchini is fine, too)
- 1 medium yellow summer squash, diced
- 1 large yellow onion, sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3/4–1 tsp salt (to taste)
- 1 tsp minced garlic (2 cloves)
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- This step is optional, but it adds amazing creaminess to the soup. Soak cashews in a bowl of warm water for at least an hour or overnight for best results.
- Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread diced vegetables in an even layer on a large baking sheet. Toss with olive oil and salt. Roast for 45 minutes or until nicely browned, stirring every 15 minutes to ensure even cooking.
- When the veggies are almost done roasting, heat a medium pot over medium heat. Sautee garlic in a bit of oil until lightly browned and fragrant.
- Add roasted veggies pot along with 4 cups of vegetable broth. Bring soup to a bowl and then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, drain cashews but save about 1/4 cup of water for blending. Blend cashews and water in a blender until completely smooth. It should resemble cream. Stir cashew “cream” into soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Blend/puree soup with an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender.
I kept the skin on my zucchini hoping it would turn out green but no. its golden haha.. but its so good. I added a bit of curry and turmeric on the veg before roasting, and added some fresh ginger to the roasted veg too. I like creamy but decided to do the last batch in the blender more chunky.. and stir back into the creamy batches.. gives just a bit of mouth texture. tomorrow i’m going to add a small can of coconut milk to the remaining soup in the pot and see how that goes.
Great news. So glad you enjoyed it!
Okay. Extreme newbie cook here. If I wanted to used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth, do you think it would turn out well?
Oh, and do you think walnuts could sub for cashews?
I’m allergic to tree nuts. What would be a good substitute?
I used just a little bit of peanut butter as i didn’t have the cashews. It was great! Make sure to go slow with the PB because it can get out of hand quick and start just tasting like peanut sauce.
★★★★★
I love that addition!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Some questions:
1. When/where/how do you use the onions? I assumed it went with the garlic as the recipe didn’t state it explicitly.
2. Is this a cold or warm soup?
3. What if the soup is yellow but not golden yellow? I used golden yellow squash and regular zucchini. Where would I have gone wrong?
Thanks!
1. Bake the onion with the squash/zucchini.
2. I enjoyed mine warm, but this would be an excellent cold soup.
3. I used so much zucchini that my soup was much more green than gold. If you want it more golden, add more squash than zucchini.
This one is a keeper! And wow does that cashew cream make it taste perfect! You were not joking. I used green zucchini and bone broth, garnished with some cilantro! Redonculous, Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad you liked it, Lance! And I love you for using the word redonculous 🙂
Looks good! Going to make it this weekend. J’adore ton blog!
Thank you thank you 🙂
I don’t care what temperature it is, I’ll eat soup even if it makes me sweat bullets! I’ve been enjoying some chilled gazpachos lately – I bet this soup is excellent both hot and cold! I’ve never made cashew cream, nor soup using squash, so I’m all over this recipe!!
★★★★★
Okay…I hate to admit it but I’ve never had gazpacho. I think I need to change that ASAP!
I was JUST telling my mom the other day how it’s weird that I haven’t cooked/baked with zucchini yet this summer. I think this may be the perfect thing to make. I’m also one of those crazy people who eats soup year-round, no matter the temperature. I just love it that much.
Also- I made cashew cream for the first time a few weeks ago….amazing. I avoid eating dairy as much as possible so the fact that it’s in this recipe is perfection.
I eat soup year round, too! Glad you’re familiar with the wonders of cashew cream–it such a fantastic addition to this soup!
I love roasted veggies too!!! This soup sounds SO amazing! I love the idea of adding in the cashews instead of the heavy cream!
Roasted veggies are the BOMB. 🙂
I don’t know what I love more- the sound of this recipe or the fact that you used the term ‘oxymoron’ haha! I won’t lie- the idea of eating suit when it’s hot outside doesn’t appeal much but it’s a good thing the temperatures ar cooling down in the evenings! And for what it’s worth, according to science apparently drinking hot drinks/soup actually help cool our bodies internally!
Nice to know that drinking soup will cool down my bod! All the more reason to scarf it down.
im going all in and trying this one right now because i trust your fantabulous statement. ill let u know how it goes
Wahoo! I just ate a huge bowl of it and I’m seriously obsessed. The key is making sure the roasted veggies get nice and roasted in the oven. The other key is blending the soup really well at the end so it’s super smooth and creamy…perfection! And if the veggies listed don’t fill a large baking pan, add another zucchini!
i did the cashew soaking as well and it rocked. thanks for the extra instructions haha it really helped me out
Isn’t it like life-changing?? Glad the extra instructions helped! I changed the recipe a bit, basically so that you just blend it all together at the end instead of pureeing the veggies first. Much easier.