When I’ve interned or stayed at Ayurvedic hospitals/residential clinics they served squash as a primary vegetable. It is full of great phytonutrients and healthy fiber, of course, but above all, it is truly Sattvic, light and easy to digest.

Squash belongs to the gourd or Cucurbitaceae family, which Ayurveda appreciates in its many varieties, including bitter gourd, bottle gourd, snake gourd, ash gourd, for its healing quality.

Here, where I live in Southern California, we don’t have as much accesss to the Ayurveda gourds, but their “soft shell” cousins, like zucchini, yellow squash, crooknecks, and scallopini, are still in the market, though they are being pushed along by the “hard shell” squash that herald autumn’s return – the butternut, acorn, delicata squash, the pumpkins, and kabocha – all the varieties, colors and shapes arriving in bushels now as the season progresses.

Ayurveda sees the summer, or soft shell, squash as sweet, astringent and slightly cooling. So, generally the squash available in late summer pacifies Pitta dosha, the dosha of heat, while winter, or hard shell, squash are heavier, so better for Vata dosha, the dosha which corresponds to autumn and early winter.

Generally, gourd and soft shell squash nourish all the dhatus (tissues) and harmonize the five elements. The madhura (sweet) and kashaya (astringent) taste cools excess heat in the body, and is beneficial for your liver, especially helpful after the heat of this summer! Ayurveda also suggests it can be helpful with premature graying and improving hair growth.

On a subtle level, squash and gourd are said to open the heart and calm the emotions. Think about how gourds have been used to carry water, and to make musical instruments across cultures. Even their many uses feels supportive, refreshing, sweet. Like they rose up as nature’s way of saying, “Here let me help you with that.”

While squash is not an exact stand-in for the beloved gourds of the Ayurvedic healing kitchen, they are still very healing, good for debilitation, post-surgery recovery, chemo or radiation, and chronic digestive disorders.

So I made this soup recently for a patient undergoing cancer treatment. Prior to making it, I wasn’t sure that boiling three yellow squash into a soup would be anything but bland, especially because he doesn’t want any salt, nor pungent spices.

But was I really wrong. It tastes like healing rays of light were nurtured by mother earth into a golden gift of radiant nourishment, and delicious, whole body love.

It is sunshine in a bowl.

Golden Squash Soup
A true Ayurvedic hospital or clinic will not use garlic, but maybe instead a touch of asafoetida, and certainly some curry leaves. My patient asked for a bit of garlic for its immune-supporting, cancer-fighting properties, but it is utterly optional. If garlic is something you are used to in your meals, you may appreciate its flavor enhancement. If you are not used to it, omitting makes this soup even more sattvic.

Ingredients
3 yellow squash
1 small shallot
1-inch piece ginger, peeled
1 small thumb turmeric
1 knob ghee
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup coconut milk, or more to taste
Rosemary, to garnish

Method
The method is basically clean, rinse, peel, chop, sauté, simmer, blend, taste, adjust and enjoy! It is really that simple. Below is a step by step guide. Feel free to adapt and personalize according to your own creativity, availability of ingredients, and needs.

Prep your ingredients by cleaning the squash and chopping it into 4-5 large pieces. Peel and chop the shallot, turmeric and ginger. You don’t need to chop fine as you will be blending it all before serving.

In a medium-size soup pot, over medium heat, melt the ghee. “One knob ghee” means about a tablespoon, more or less, as you prefer – just enough to cover the base of the pan, or more to nurture the healing. Stir in the shallots and cook 3-4 minutes until they are translucent, stirring regularly, and reducing heat to low as they begin to sizzle. Gentle cooking gives a gentleness to our meals.

Add the turmeric and garlic, and sauté for another minute or so. Spoon in the squash, bring the heat up to medium, or medium low (my soup pot needs less heat, so adjust accordingly), and cook 3 minutes, turning occasionally.

Stir in the vegetable broth. Bring to a light simmer, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 5 minutes.

Pour this squash mixture into a blender. Add half the coconut milk to the pot, swirl to get all the remaining pieces and pour this into the blender too.

Blend on high for a minute or until it is a smooth consistency. Pour back into the soup pot and set on low heat to warm. Pour the remaining coconut milk into the blender, pulse, and pour this into the pot. Using the coconut milk to sweep up the remnants makes it easy and gives less to clean up.

Warm the soup to hot, ladle into bowls and serve. I garnished with a sprig of rosemary and black sesame seeds I had previously toasted together with flax seed, a bit of ghee and pink salt. That was all the seasoning it needed, and it was surprisinlgy good. In a gentle way, of course.

Enjoy! 💛🍃