Place all soup ingredients except the raisins and couscous into the slow cooker and cook on low for five to six hours or longer.

In the meantime, put all cashew cream ingredients in the blender and blend at top speed for a good minute or until extremely creamy. It’s best to do this an hour or less before serving so it will be warm or room temperature, but if you refrigerate it first just take it out an hour or so before serving and let it reach room temperature.

Cook whole wheat couscous according to package instructions.

When soup is finished, serve over warm whole wheat couscous and top with golden raisins (trust me, you want these), cashew cream drizzle, and acorn squash garnish. Do NOT stir in the cashew cream; leave it as is or else you won’t taste it.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, then slice your squash in rounds about a quarter-inch thick.

Prepare a baking sheet with Gefen Easy Baking Parchment Paper, arrange sliced acorn squash rounds on the sheet, and add salt and pepper to taste. Bake for about 30 minutes or until soft and just beginning to brown. Remove seeds (you can eat the crunchy ones!).