creamy, spicy, healthy, fulfilling, dairy free, and delish

Photo from the website.
Don't forget the lime!

I really enjoy making soup, especially when it comes out well (duh!). Most of the time I don't choose anything super involved and it ends up being a very affordable way to eat a healthy and delicious dinner multiple nights a week. Another reason for choosing semi-easy to moderately-easy recipes is because at this point of my life I can get a sense about how something is going to come out when cooked by yours truly by looking at the recipe and the list of ingredients, and when I am making something that takes multiple days to eat, I don't want to be left with something I have no interest in. Yesterday I put together a Thai-influenced soup I found on the Whole Foods website. I was searching for something I could use seafood broth in because I had some homemade broth lying around after devouring a seafood feast with my sister this past weekend. (I boiled a few shrimp tails, a lobster tail shell, a few lemon slices, and a bay leaf and made my own broth. I was under the impression I could use it in place of any kind of broth, but I was quickly told by my husband and sister that was not the case. Oops.) 

Enter Butternut Squash and Coconut Soup with Shrimp. I omitted the garlic, added three times the curry paste (I like spice), used seafood broth instead of chicken broth, and added chicken instead of shrimp. I figured that created a good enough balance where I could get away with using my homemade broth creation. I was anticipating wanting to run the squash and liquids through a blender, but I used a fork to break up the squash and it made it perfectly thick (and created less dishes). I am excited for my dinners and will definitely be making this again. Click here for the recipe.