I’ve been having crazy dreams lately. Actually, I don’t even think the word “crazy” is appropriate. I need new words, like mind-blowingly-weird, redonculous, craztaculuar. Case in point…

Last night I dreamt that I was a midget lesbian that was throwing a dinner party and the guest of honor was Vladimir Putin.  In the dream, I was telling my other guests “hey guys, I know he has kind of been shady lately but, seriously, he’s a great FOODIE!”.  Which as we all know, erases all errors in life. Shyah. The other thing was that this dinner party was going to feature a bit of a Top Chef blind taste-testing challenge. In my dream, I remember thinking how awesome it was going to be that Vladimir got to taste my food blindly because then he wouldn’t judge me on the fact that I was a midget lesbian, he would only judge my awesome food.

Now the secret is out. I’m officially crazy.

So take your best stab at what that means. Do Russian dictators appear in the dream books? I’ll let you marinate on that dream while I move on to more important things…real FOOD. Not just dream food.

The inspiration of this soup is from one of my favorite snacks, carrots + hummus. The carrots, butternut squash, and a few whole cloves of garlic are slow roasted which brings out the roasty-carmelized tastiness that these veggies hold. Then they were pureed with some vegetable broth. That’s it.

Oh. Wait. I almost forgot!!! The winning touch! TAHINI YOGURT! I HIGHLY recommend swirling a dollop of tahini yogurt into each bowl. I really think this would have won my dream blind taste testing challenge with dream Vladimir.  Super nutritious. Super dreamy. Just sayin.

Roasted Carrot and Butternut Squash Tahini Soup with Tahini Yogurt

Serves 4 to 6

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Anja’s Food 4 Thought

Soup Ingredients

• 1 lb of carrots, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 2 to 3 cups of cubed butternut squash
• 3 whole cloves of garlic, unpeeled
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4 cups of vegetable or chicken broth (or water)
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• pinch of smoked paprika

Tahini Yogurt Ingredients

• ½ cup greek yogurt
• 1 to 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Spray a roasting pan (or line with parchment paper) and set aside. Toss carrot pieces, butternut squash cubes, and garlic cloves with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place onto rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile near the end of the cooking time of the veggies, heat 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Add chopped onion and cook until it is translucent. Stir in the cumin and coriander.  Add broth and reduce heat to a simmer.
3. When the veggies are done, add the roasted veggies to the stock pot. Blend the soup with either an immersion blender, blender, or food processor, until the soup is smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Meanwhile in a separate small bowl, whisk together the greek yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, and just a pinch of salt.
5. Ladle the soup into bowls, top with a dollop of tahini yogurt, and sprinkled with a smidge of smoked paprika. Mmmmmm.