With the remaining half of the crookneck squash I used for the vegetable tagine, I whipped up this quick squash soup with zippy pumpkin seeds.

Squash Soup with Cumin Pumpkin Seeds
serves 4

soup
1 Tbs. olive oil (herb seasoned oil is nice)
3 shallots
1 carrot
1 celery rib
4 cups chopped and seeded crookneck squash
3 cups vegetable broth
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1 lime, cut into six wedges

cumin pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin or other squash seeds, dried
2 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. ground cumin
3 pinches of sea salt

preparation
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil, shallots and celery over medium heat, stirring often, until the shallots are translucent. Add the carrots, squash and vegetable broth. Cover and heat until lightly boiling. Reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are very soft, about 25 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium high heat. Add the pumpkin seeds, stirring often, until they smell “toasted” and begin to make popping noises, about 2 minutes. Add the cumin, stirring for 30 seconds. Remove the seeds from the pan, place in a small bowl, add the salt and toss.

In small batches, blend the soup until smooth. Return to the soup to the pan, cover, and heat through. When serving, ladle the soup into shallow bowls and garnish with the pumpkin seeds, a generous grind of fresh black pepper, and fresh lime juice.

I served this soup as a first course, followed by seitan cutlets with mustard sauce (from Veganomicon), braised green beans, roasted cauliflower, and sweet potatoe and yukon mashed potatoes.

This was my first attempt at making seitan at home, and I don’t think that I kneaded the glutton for long enough. Señor Lanky described the cutlets as “chewy,” and he didn’t mean it in a good way. The mustard sauce and the sides, however, were a big hit.