Butternut Squash Soup

I know I haven’t been around much – I’m claiming wedding preparations (16 days out) as an excuse. But I’m here today with a recipe for delicious Butternut Squash Soup.

In the midst of hardcore wedding dieting/juice fasting/exercising, the chilly & rainy days we’ve had lately forced me to indulge in some comfort food-goodness.

It was worth it.

Butternut Squash is a popular fall vegetable. I love it for it’s natural sweetness. To make the preparations for the soup as easy as possible, I used a pre-peeled, seeded & halved squash from my local grocery store. It was a total breeze to cube up the squash.

Looks like a plate of cheddar cheese, doesn’t it? Is it making you hungry? Because it’s making me hungry…

I also peeled & cubed one potato, and chopped up 1/2 of an onion.

Using 4 tablespoons of butter (I know… but it was comfort food!), I started with the onion until it was well on its way to a nice caramelized look. Then I added the cubes of squash and potato, stirring until the vegetables began to brown. I seasoned with garlic salt, pepper, and some Italian seasonings.

I transferred everything into a larger pot, and poured fat-free chicken stock into the pot until it just covered the veggies. I continued to season with salt & pepper, while bringing everything to a boil. I then reduced the heat & let everything simmer for about 40 minutes.

Until the squash & potato were nice and tender.

The next step was my favorite- I used my little hand blender to puree the vegetables directly in the pot.

Once nice & smooth, I added the milk, cinnamon & additional salt & pepper. I used about 1/4 of a cup more broth to thin the soup a bit. I continued to heat the soup for another 5-1o minutes, while I grilled up my sandwiches.

This soup was so delicious, and made me so happy. I topped the soup with ground pepper, and served it with a yummy grilled swiss sandwich, and praised the goodness of comfort food.

Butternut Squash Soup

Recipe (heavily) adapted from here.

Ingredients:

4 cups of butternut squash, cubed

1 potato, peeled & cubed

1/2 of a large onion, diced

4 tablespoons butter (or margarine)

32 oz Fat Free Chicken Broth

1 tsp Garlic Salt

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 cup skim milk

Salt & Pepper to taste

 

Instructions:
1. Halve a Butternut Squash, remove seeds & peel. Cube squash.

2. Heat butter in a large saucepan. Saute onions until caramelized. Season w/ Garlic Salt.

3. Add squash & cubed potato. Saute in butter until vegetables begin to brown.

4. Add chicken broth to cover all vegetables, bring to a boil.

5. Reduce heat & simmer for 40 minutes, until all vegetables are tender.

6. Transfer to blender or use hand blender to puree vegetables.

7. Return to stove, add 1/4 milk &  more broth to reach desired consistency.

8. Add cinnamon, and season with salt & pepper to taste.