Lately, I’ve been doing something that I haven’t done a whole lot of for a while: cooking for me. I say that because at some point along my blogging journey, I slipped into a pattern of cooking just for the blog. Not that the blog was the only reason I’d get to cooking, necessarily, but when it came to deciding what to make, I’d pretty much always opt to try out something new that I hoped to share (and something I thought you guys would love). Over the past few years, dinners on nights when I didn’t feel like working on a new recipe for this site have typically been devoted to something easy, like leftovers, veggie burgers, or even take out. Recently though, I’ve gotten the urge on those nights to cook up something for myself, like an old favorite or a cookbook recipe. What I’ve gravitated towards the most, on either occasion, is soup. This is a soup I made for me, but then I decided to share it anyway, because I loved it so much. Kabocha squash just might be my favorite winter squash, and it makes an amazing soup. It’s not always easy to find, and I really couldn’t find it at all in my area until a few years ago. If you can’t get your hands on a kabocha squash, I’m pretty sure butternut or acorn squash would work just as well. What’s important is the sweet and savory blend of miso and sweet winter squash. The nuts were a bit of an afterthought, but the idea came from a miso glazed eggplant dish I got at a restaurant (that would be the dish that inspired this recipe). They add the perfect level of additional sweetness to balance out the miso, and the perfect amount of crunch to top off the velvety smoothness of the soup.
