Monday, October 15, 2012

Day 15...bonus post! Butternut Squash Soup

I figured since I did such a rotton job blogging this weekend, I'd give you a bonus blog tonight. I absolutely love squash, and each fall I stock up at the local farmer's market. I usually cook a bunch of it, freeze it, and enjoy it throughout the winter. Well, recently I picked up a couple of butternut squash and wanted to try something a little different. I haven't done very much as far as making my own soups, but I thought today was as good of day as ever to try. After reading lots of different recipes online, I decided to go for the Makeitupasyougo Butternut Squash recipe. The result was a very tasty soup that was perfect after a short three mile run tonight. Enjoy!

I started with 4 1/2 cups of water and 4 chicken bouillion cubes. Bring the water to a boil and add the four cubes. I remember when I was a little girl and my mom would make dinner, unwrapping the cubes was always my job. 
After the cubes had dissolved, I added 1/2 teaspoon of  Penzey's onion powder.
Next came a 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

This was a giant carrot I got a couple weeks ago at the Tosa Farmer's Market. It was ginormous.
I also cut up 1 small Honeycrisp apple. There are my favorite kind of apple to eat. In fact, I may have eaten one while I was cooking! Please appreciate my amazing peeling abilities as well. =)
Everything put into the boiling water. The carrots were put in longer than the apples, as the apples will soften up pretty quickly.
Just because I was experimenting, I love spinach, and it's totally good for you, I threw in a little spinach.  Keep in mind, if you want a really orange soup...this will change the color of your soup. Not necessary at all. If I would have had them in the house, I also would have chopped up some onion and celery.
I'm sure you're realizing that I LOVE Penzey's spices. Not only do I get to support local businesses, but they are fantastic! This is Mural of Flavor, one of my favorites that goes on just about anything.
This is a new one at Penzey's, Ruth Ann's Muskego Ave. Chicken and Fish Seasoning. I don't have specific  amount that I put in of these two spices. Simply season to your personal flavoring. (Yeah, I know...I really need to paint my nails...)
Everything went into the blender. I went back and forth between the boiled mixture and the container of squash I cooked yesterday in my crockpot. (Through your squash into your crock on low with some water for several hours until soft. Scoop and eat or save for soup!)

This is what it looked like all mixed up. I tasted and decided it was still missing something...so I added...
...some more Mural of Flavor...
...and some margarine. (This is just what I grabbed out of the fridge...alter to your taste.)
I let this sit in the crockpot for about 45 minutes on high, but only because I had to go on a quick 3 mile run. When I got home it was the perfect dinner post-run. I added some mozzarella cheese on top (I'm a Wisconsin girl at heart) and some crunchy crunchies, though it could have gone without either of those things. This would also be great with breadcrumbs or homemade croutons on top as well. I think some of this might even get frozen for those cold, dark winter nights when it's pitch black when I get home at 6pm.

Once the squash was cooked, the boiling and blending took me under 30 minutes. Yummmmm!

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