Inland Northwest, High Desert
October 18, 2001
By Cathy Walworth,
Twin Falls, ID
Recipes
Acorn Squash Soup
Now, before you go a-thinkin' that squash soup doesn't sound like something you'd want to eat, read on. Acorn squash is yummy stuff, and they way it's used in this soup is just heaven.
Ingredients
1 acorn squash -- scrub it and cut into fourths, but don't peel it.
1/2 cup dried white beans (soaked overnight)
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 vegetable/broth boullion cubes
fresh ground pepper to taste
parsley springs and carrot curls for garnish
3 cups water
Preparation
Rinse beans and put into a large pot with 3 cups water. Add celery, onion, garlic and boullion, bring to a boil. Cover pot and turn heat to low. Fill another large pot with water and bring to a boil. Put the acorn squash into the boiling water and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until a fork poked into the meat feels like a well-done potato. Take the squash out of the hot water and allow to cool. When the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out the meat, remove seeds and puree in a blender or food processor, then add this puree to bean pot.
Finish cooking the soup so that an hour has passed from when the beans started cooking, If the soup is too watery, take out about a third of the ingredients and puree them in the blender. Add them back to the soup base. Season to taste with salt and pepper and garnish.
Serves 4 to 6.
Local Buzz
Dutch Elm Disease Carried into Montana
Three years of drought and warm winters have weakened elm trees in Montana. City workers in Great Falls have had to remove about 100 elms as Dutch elm disease has taken its toll. "The warm winters in particular have a lot to do with the survival of the elm bark beetle," said Great Falls City Forester Jon Thompson. What we'd like to see is a cold winter with about four consecutive days at 20-25 degrees F below zero to put a dent in the fungus-carrying beetles that cause all the damage.
