I love it when my neighbors share their CSA bounty with me, because it means I get to explore new recipes.

My dinners this week are this light, fresh, and delicious soup from Real Simple: Red Curry Squash Soup With Tofu Croutons.

Planning!

I was really excited to find this recipe; it's right up my alley, and it checks a couple of the "what should I do with these random veggies?" boxes this week. I wanted to double it, because I had twice the butternut squash than the recipe calls for, plus nothing makes me crazier than a recipe that calls for half a can of coconut milk. I ran the doubled version of the recipe through the Fitbit meal creator, and voilà! Permission granted! 

Here's the nutritional breakdown from Fitbit...

Groceries I had on hand...

• butternut squash
• red curry paste
• turkey stock (in the freezer from Thanksgiving!)
• kosher salt
• vegetable oil
• bok choy

Groceries I had to buy...

• 1 can light coconut milk ($3.49)
• 12oz extra-firm tofu ($2.50)
• 2 serranos (.19lb @ 3.99/lb = $.76)
• 2 limes (5 for $2.00 = $.80)

Total monies spent for the entire recipe: $7.55

Total monies spent for each of these 6 dinners....

$1.26 per dinner.

Cooking!

There are three distinct preparations to do for this soup: the soup itself, the tofu "croutons," and the bok choy salad.

First, the soup: easy enough to defrost the stock I had in the freezer and simmer it with the curry paste and diced butternut squash, then add the coconut milk and blend it up! I used my stick blender rather than transfer the soup to a blender, as the recipe suggests.

Next, the bok choy salad. I did not dress it today, because otherwise the bok choy would be wilted as heck by the time it came to enjoy it, defeating the purpose of having a nice crisp salad to top the soup. But I did pack the salad components individually so that they're all portioned out and read to go. Come dinner, all I have to do is squeeze the lime wedge, add a little salt, and toss it all together: bok choy salad!

And finally, the tofu "croutons." I prefer to use clean dish towels to press the tofu, because they are far more absorbent (and environmentally friendly!) than paper towels. Then the frying is easy as can be, just be patient and don't raise the temperature too high.

Ta-da! Six incredible soups to enjoy all week long!